Health-related signaling via wearable items

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described for configuring and using displays, speakers, or other output devices positioned by an article of clothing or other such structure wearable by a healthcare recipient, for example, in a clinic or residential care facility.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method includes but is not limited to obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient and signaling a decision whether totransmit a notification at least partly in response to one or morecomparisons between the information indicating the current thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient andinformation indicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient. In addition to the foregoing, othermethod aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming apart of the present disclosure.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the hereinreferenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can bevirtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to circuitry forobtaining information indicating a current thermal condition in aperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient and circuitry forsignaling a decision whether to transmit a notification at least partlyin response to one or more comparisons between the informationindicating the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient and information indicating a prior thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient. Inaddition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to a positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; a receiversupported by the positioning structure and configured to receive awireless signal; and a user interaction device supported by thepositioning structure and configured to present at least somehealth-related information in a vicinity of the healthcare recipientresponsive to the wireless signal.

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to a positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; a receiversupported by the positioning structure and configured to receive awireless signal; and an output device supported by the positioningstructure and configured to transmit at least some health-relatedinformation responsive to the wireless signal and to sensor data inproximity to the healthcare recipient.

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to a positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; a receiversupported by the positioning structure and configured to receive awireless signal; and a first output device supported by the positioningstructure and configured to transmit at least some health-relatedinformation responsive to the wireless signal and to a status updaterelating to the healthcare recipient.

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to a positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; a firstoutput device supported by the positioning structure and configured totransmit at least some health-related information in a vicinity of thehealthcare recipient; and a second output device supported by thepositioning structure and configured to transmit a wireless signalcontaining one or more scalar values indicating a position of thehealthcare recipient.

In one aspect, a system includes but is not limited to a positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; a movementdetector supported by the positioning structure; a first output devicesupported by the positioning structure and configured to transmit atleast a signal from the movement detector; and a second output devicesupported by the positioning structure and configured to transmit atleast some health-related information in a vicinity of the healthcarerecipient.

In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or system and/orprogram product aspects are set forth and described in the teachingssuch as text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/or drawingsof the present disclosure.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, inclusions, and/or omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes and/orother subject matter described herein will become apparent in theteachings set forth herein.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting herein-referencedmethod aspects; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually anycombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effectthe herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choicesof the system designer. In addition to the foregoing, various othermethod and/or system aspects are set forth and described in theteachings such as text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/ordrawings of the present disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1-26 depict exemplary environments in which one or moretechnologies may be implemented.

FIG. 27 depicts a high-level logic flow of an operational process.

FIGS. 28-29 depict variants of the flow of FIG. 27.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware, software, and/or firmware implementations of aspectsof systems; the use of hardware, software, and/or firmware is generally(but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardwareand software can become significant) a design choice representing costvs. efficiency tradeoffs. Those having skill in the art will appreciatethat there are various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/orother technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware,software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred vehicle will varywith the context in which the processes and/or systems and/or othertechnologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determinesthat speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for amainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibilityis paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly softwareimplementation; or, yet again alternatively, the implementer may opt forsome combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Hence, thereare several possible vehicles by which the processes and/or devicesand/or other technologies described herein may be effected, none ofwhich is inherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to beutilized is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehiclewill be deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, orpredictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilledin the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations willtypically employ optically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.

In some implementations described herein, logic and similarimplementations may include software or other control structuressuitable to operation. Electronic circuitry, for example, may manifestone or more paths of electrical current constructed and arranged toimplement various logic functions as described herein. In someimplementations, one or more media are configured to bear adevice-detectable implementation if such media hold or transmit aspecial-purpose device instruction set operable to perform as describedherein. In some variants, for example, this may manifest as an update orother modification of existing software or firmware, or of gate arraysor other programmable hardware, such as by performing a reception of ora transmission of one or more instructions in relation to one or moreoperations described herein. Alternatively or additionally, in somevariants, an implementation may include special-purpose hardware,software, firmware components, and/or general-purpose componentsexecuting or otherwise invoking special-purpose components.Specifications or other implementations may be transmitted by one ormore instances of tangible transmission media as described herein,optionally by packet transmission or otherwise by passing throughdistributed media at various times.

Alternatively or additionally, implementations may include executing aspecial-purpose instruction sequence or otherwise invoking circuitry forenabling, triggering, coordinating, requesting, or otherwise causing oneor more occurrences of any functional operations described above. Insome variants, operational or other logical descriptions herein may beexpressed directly as source code and compiled or otherwise invoked asan executable instruction sequence. In some contexts, for example, C++or other code sequences can be compiled directly or otherwiseimplemented in high-level descriptor languages (e.g., alogic-synthesizable language, a hardware description language, ahardware design simulation, and/or other such similar mode(s) ofexpression). Alternatively or additionally, some or all of the logicalexpression may be manifested as a Verilog-type hardware description orother circuitry model before physical implementation in hardware,especially for basic operations or timing-critical applications. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize how to obtain, configure, and optimizesuitable transmission or computational elements, material supplies,actuators, or other common structures in light of these teachings.

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious embodiments described herein can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by various types of electro-mechanical systemshaving a wide range of electrical components such as hardware, software,firmware, and/or virtually any combination thereof, and a wide range ofcomponents that may impart mechanical force or motion such as rigidbodies, spring or torsional bodies, hydraulics, electro-magneticallyactuated devices, and/or virtually any combination thereof.Consequently, as used herein “electro-mechanical system” includes, butis not limited to, electrical circuitry operably coupled with atransducer (e.g., an actuator, a motor, a piezoelectric crystal, a MicroElectro Mechanical System (MEMS), etc.), electrical circuitry having atleast one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of memory(e.g., random access, flash, read only, etc.)), electrical circuitryforming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch,optical-electrical equipment, etc.), and/or any non-electrical analogthereto, such as optical or other analogs. Those skilled in the art willalso appreciate that examples of electro-mechanical systems include butare not limited to a variety of consumer electronics systems, medicaldevices, as well as other systems such as motorized transport systems,factory automation systems, security systems, and/orcommunication/computing systems. Those skilled in the art will recognizethat electro-mechanical as used herein is not necessarily limited to asystem that has both electrical and mechanical actuation except ascontext may dictate otherwise.

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will also recognize thatthe various aspects described herein which can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, and/or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composedof various types of “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein“electrical circuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electricalcircuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electricalcircuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitryhaving at least one application specific integrated circuit, electricalcircuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by acomputer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by acomputer program which at least partially carries out processes and/ordevices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computerprogram which at least partially carries out processes and/or devicesdescribed herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g.,forms of memory (e.g., random access, flash, read only, etc.)), and/orelectrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem,communications switch, optical-electrical equipment, etc.). Those havingskill in the art will recognize that the subject matter described hereinmay be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combinationthereof.

Those skilled in the art will further recognize that at least a portionof the devices and/or processes described herein can be integrated intoan image processing system. A typical image processing system maygenerally include one or more of a system unit housing, a video displaydevice, memory such as volatile or non-volatile memory, processors suchas microprocessors or digital signal processors, computational entitiessuch as operating systems, drivers, applications programs, one or moreinteraction devices (e.g., a touch pad, a touch screen, an antenna,etc.), control systems including feedback loops and control motors(e.g., feedback for sensing lens position and/or velocity; controlmotors for moving/distorting lenses to give desired focuses). An imageprocessing system may be implemented utilizing suitable commerciallyavailable components, such as those typically found in digital stillsystems and/or digital motion systems.

Those skilled in the art will likewise recognize that at least some ofthe devices and/or processes described herein can be integrated into adata processing system. Those having skill in the art will recognizethat a data processing system generally includes one or more of a systemunit housing, a video display device, memory such as volatile ornon-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors or digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices (e.g., a touch pad, a touch screen, an antenna,etc.), and/or control systems including feedback loops and controlmotors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; controlmotors for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A dataprocessing system may be implemented utilizing suitable commerciallyavailable components, such as those typically found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

With reference now to FIG. 1, shown is a system 100 in which one or moretechnologies may be implemented. System 100 may include a wearableinterface or other positioning structure 160 effective for positioninginstances of detection logic 120, devices 130 for transmitting signals170 about a physiological or other health issue, or other componentsnear a healthcare recipient. Detection logic 120 may include one or moreinstances of symptom or event detection modules 104, accelerometers 105,or other sensors 106; positional coordinates 107 or other scalar values108; or receivers 116, 117 or other modules 118, 119. Interface 130 mayinclude one or more keypads 123 or other input devices 124, touchscreens125, or other input or output devices 126.

With reference now to FIG. 2, shown is a system 200 comprising a sleeve,wrap, cuff, or other such layer 280 wearable by a healthcare recipient290 and configured to present health-related information 240 obtainedfrom or otherwise responsive to radio frequency or other signals 270. Insome contexts, layer 280 may implement a positioning structure like thatof FIG. 1.

A first embodiment provides (a) wearable display layer 280 or otherpositioning structure 160 and (b) one or more touch screens 125 or otherinput and/or output devices supported by the positioning structure 160and configured to present medication reminders, procedural explanations,scheduling data, or other health-related information 240 in a vicinityof a healthcare recipient 290. In some variants, one or more outputdevices 126 may likewise be supported by the positioning structure 160and configured to transmit a wireless or other signal 170 containing adistance measurement or other scalar value 108 indicating a past orcurrent position of the healthcare recipient.

Another embodiment provides a positioning structure 160 configured to beworn by a healthcare recipient 290, one or more receivers 117 supportedby the positioning structure 160 and configured to receive a wireless orother signal 270, and one or more output devices 126 supported by thepositioning structure 160 and configured to present a scalar value 108or other health-related information 240 responsive to signal 270 and toone or more status updates (from a sensor 106, another receiver 116, orother input devices, e.g.) relating to healthcare recipient 290.

Yet another embodiment provides a positioning structure 160 configuredto be worn by a healthcare recipient 290, one or more receivers 116, 117supported by the positioning structure 160 and configured to receivesignal 270, and one or more touch screens 125 or other user interactiondevices 130 supported by the positioning structure 160 and configured topresent a care provider's location, a prescription status, or otherhealth-related information 240 in a vicinity of the healthcare recipient290 responsive to signal 270. Other such embodiments are described belowwith reference to FIGS. 3-26.

With reference now to FIG. 3, shown is a system 300 comprising one ormore wireless modems or other such stationary modules 340 operable forcommunicating via linkage 350 with a wearable handset or other suchportable module 370. Stationary module 340 may include memory 325 or oneor more modules 331, 332 of response logic 335 configured to handle oneor more signals 320 comprising health-related information 316 and/orother notifications 315. In some contexts, for example, such signals mayinclude parametric improvements or other such positive messages 311,medical research 312, updates, explanations, responses to inquiries, orother such data 365 suitable for presentation (via user interface 362,e.g.) to a healthcare recipient. Portable module 370 may include one ormore transceivers or other receivers 351, sensors 353 for obtainingmeasurements or other sensor data 352, or output devices 361 asdescribed herein.

An embodiment provides a positioning structure or other portable module370 configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; one or morereceivers 351 supported by the positioning structure and configured toreceive a wireless or other signal 320 such as positive messages 311,reminders, research 312, or other health-related information 316; and atleast one user interface 362 or other output device 361 supported by thepositioning structure and configured to transmit at least some of thehealth-related or other data responsive to the signal 320 and to sensordata 352 from one or more sensors 353 in proximity to the healthcarerecipient. In some contexts, such modules may include a hook, clip,adhesive backing, or other fastening element 375 effectively permittingthe module to be worn by the healthcare recipient. Other suchembodiments are described below with reference to FIGS. 4-26.

With reference now to FIG. 4, shown is a system 400 in which one or moretechnologies may be implemented. System 400 may include one or moreinstances of wearable articles 410 configured to transmit and/or receivesignals 421, 422 (handled by stationary module 440, for example) in ahealthcare facility 405. In some contexts, such modules may include oneor more displays 441 (viewable by a nurse 425, e.g.), interfaces, and/orstorage 442 configured to retain selected components of such signals421, 422.

With reference now to FIG. 5, shown is a system 500 comprising one ormore instances of an earpiece 561, gown 562, wristband 563, or othersuch structures effective for positioning one or more modules configuredto communicate in a vicinity 555 of a healthcare recipient 550 who wearsthe structure(s). Other such embodiments are described herein,optionally configured to communicate with a stationary or other moduleand/or to include one or more sensors for detecting status indiciarelating to healthcare recipient 550.

An embodiment provides a positioning structure 160 configured to be wornby a healthcare recipient 550, one or more sensors 106 or otherdetection logic 120 supported by the positioning structure 160, one ormore output devices 126 supported by the positioning structure 160 andconfigured to transmit at least a signal 170 from the detection logic120, and one or more other devices 130 supported by the positioningstructure 160 and configured to present at least some health-relatedinformation 240 in a vicinity 555 of the healthcare recipient 550. Othersuch embodiments are described below with reference to FIGS. 6-26.

With reference now to FIG. 6, shown is a system 600 in which one or moretechnologies may be implemented comprising wearable or other articles610 operable for handling communications to and/or from one or morenetworks 690. In some variants, such articles may include one or moreinstances of data 650; input devices 660; profile detectors 671,detection modules 672, or other condition detection logic 675; ortransmitters 681 or other conduits 685 operable for bearing one or moresignals 682. Data 650 may include one or more queries 621, gestures 622,images 623, symbols 624, call signals 625, authorizations 626,notifications 627, or other such input 620; local parameters 631,systemic parameters 632, or other physiological parameters 635 relatingto a healthcare recipient; or environmental parameters 641 or othersensor data 642 as described herein. Input device 660 may include one ormore instances of translators 651, voice interfaces 652, recognitionlogic 653, touchscreen displays 654 (optionally operable with a stylus655, e.g.), cameras 656, or other sensors 657, 658.

An embodiment provides a positioning structure configured to be worn bya healthcare recipient 550, one or more conduits 685 or other receiverssupported by a positioning structure (such as an article 610 wearable bya healthcare recipient 550) and configured to receive a wireless orother signal 682, and one or more input devices 660 supported by thepositioning structure and configured to transmit at least somephysiological parameters 635 or other health-related information in avicinity 555 of the healthcare recipient responsive to signal 682 (fromnetwork 690, e.g.).

In some variants, an earpiece 561, gown 562, wristband 563 or otherpositioning structure for in-patient care exclusively supportsinstitutional broadcasts or other content controlled by and/or providedin a healthcare facility 405. Alternatively or additionally, suchwearable articles 410 or other positioning structures may (optionally)include or otherwise interact with sensors or other componentseffectively permitting use by or other interaction with the healthcarerecipient. Such structures may, for example, support one or more voiceinterfaces 652, a stylus 655, or other input devices 660 configured topermit user input from the healthcare recipient 550.

With reference now to FIG. 7, shown is a system 700 in which one or moretechnologies may be implemented. Positioning structure 760 may includeor otherwise position one or more instances of sensors 705, globalpositioning systems 706, comparators 707, or other such modules 708 ofdetection logic 710. Such sensors may include one or more proximitysensors 701, accelerometers 702, or other components described, forexample, below with reference to FIGS. 14-17. Such a positioningstructure may further include one or more displays 711, speakers 712, orother output devices 721, 722; sensors 732; or input devices 733 topermit interactions with a healthcare recipient (via user interactiondevice 730, e.g.). Such positioning structures may likewise include oneor more output devices 725 operably coupled with one or more antennas orother energy transmission media 790. Such media may transmit advice 734,status updates 735, research 738, or other information 740, 741, 742 orother notifications 743; coordinates 761, scalar values 762, 767, sensordata 764, or user input 768 as described herein, optionally as signal770.

An embodiment provides a positioning structure 760 configured to be wornby a healthcare recipient, an accelerometer 702 or other such detectionlogic 710 operable for detecting movement and supported by thepositioning structure 760, one or more output devices 725 supported bythe positioning structure 760 and configured to transmit wireless orother signals 770 from the detection logic 710, and one or more outputdevices 721 supported by the positioning structure 760 and configured topresent at least some health-related information in a vicinity of thehealthcare recipient. This can occur, for example, in a context in whichsuch circuitry implements or otherwise interacts with one or more localmodules (of FIGS. 11-17, e.g.) within, on, or near the healthcarerecipient.

An embodiment provides a garment or other positioning structure 760configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient 550, one or more outputdevices 721, 725 supported by the positioning structure 760 andconfigured to present at least some health-related information in avicinity of the healthcare recipient 550; and one or more output devices722, 725 supported by the positioning structure 760 and configured totransmit signal 770 containing one or more coordinates 761 or otherscalar values 762, 767 indicating a (past or current) position of thehealthcare recipient 550. In some contexts, for example, output device725 may include one or more light emitting diodes, powered displays, orother device-readable energy transmission media 790.

With reference now to FIG. 8, shown is a network 800 comprising one ormore stationary modules 810 or other facilities for interacting withphysicians 821 or other parties 822 or resources 850 via linkages 825.In some contexts, for example, such stationary modules may include oneor more modules 812 of response logic 815. Such resources may includeone or more instructions 831, position data 832, or records 841, 842comprising profiles 833 as described herein.

In some variants, for example, a regional call center or other suchservice may maintain numerous interaction profiles 833 or otherconfiguration data 830 continually in response to telephonic or otherincoming requests. Healthcare recipients or small healthcare facilitiesmay, for example, use such data and/or devices to facilitateinteractions with patient monitoring data aggregation, consultation,research assistance, resource referral, or other such telemedicine andrelated online services. Alternatively or additionally, one or moremodules 812 of response logic 815 may respond to such events or otherconditions by transmitting the notification(s) to an interested party822 and/or other selective destinations identified in record 841. Othersuch embodiments are described, for example, below with reference toFIGS. 9-26.

With reference now to FIG. 9, shown is a system 900 comprising one ormore instances of eyewear 951, sensing units 952, interface units 953,954, or other such structure(s) effective for positioning one or moremodules configured to communicate in a vicinity 955 of a healthcarerecipient 950 who wears the structure(s). Other such embodiments aredescribed herein, optionally configured to communicate with a stationaryor other module and/or to include one or more sensors for detectingstatus indicia relating to healthcare recipient 950.

An embodiment provides special-purpose eyewear 951, one or more sensingunits 952 or interface units 953, 954, or other such positioningstructures configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient 950; one ormore output devices 361 supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to transmit at least some positive messages 311 or otherhealth-related data 365 (optionally interspersed with notifications 315or other information) in a vicinity 955 of the healthcare recipient 950;and one or more output devices 361 supported by the positioningstructure and configured to transmit a wireless or other signalcontaining one or more coordinates 761 or other scalar values 762indicating a (past or current) position of the healthcare recipient 950.

In some variants, a nurse 425 or other party 822 can use a stationarymodule 440 or other linkage 825 to transmit one or more instructions 831to configure a recipient-specific interaction profile 833 containing oneor more records 841, 842 associating a medical or other condition withone or more notifications 315, for example, to be delivered via outputdevice 361 and/or in a vicinity 555, 955 of the healthcare recipient(s)or other subscribers.

With reference now to FIG. 10, shown is a system 1000 in which one ormore technologies may be implemented. System 1000 may be positionedcentrally or local to healthcare recipients 1010, 1020, for example,and/or configured to invoke one or more interfaces 1030 or otherresponse logic 1035 in response to one or more indications 1011, 1012,1013, 1014, 1021 from sensors 1017, 1026, 1027 in, on, or nearextremities 1028 or other body parts of interest. This can occur, forexample, in a context in which hosiery 1018, clothing, or one or morestationary or other utility devices 1025 within a detection range ofsensors 1017, 1026, 1027 implements or otherwise interacts with system1000. In some embodiments, such sensors may be implanted in a bodytissue of interest or in a structure with which healthcare recipients1010, 1020 may interact. Alternatively or additionally, some suchsensors may be worn as clothing, a support, a patch, a bandage, a watch,or some other article in the healthcare recipients' vicinity. Sucharticles may (optionally) include one or more instances of wearabledisplay or other storage or communication media 1040 configured to bearone or more percentages 1043 or other health indications 1041, 1042,1044 such as content 1045; information 1046; decisions 1047; ornotifications 1048 containing content 1049, for example, in flows asdescribed below.

In some variants, one or more modules 332 of response logic 335, 815,1035 are configured to cause one or more notifications 315 to be routedlocally to one or more speakers or other output devices 361 in avicinity 555, 955 of a healthcare recipient 550, 950. Alternatively oradditionally, such systems may include one or more utility devices 1025,wearable sensors 1017, 1027, or other such modules configured toprocess, present, or otherwise handle raw or other current sensor dataas described herein.

With reference now to FIG. 11, shown is a system 1100 in which one ormore technologies may be implemented comprising one or more localmodules 1110 operably coupled with one or more interfaces 1180 in anetwork 1190. Local module 1110 may handle or otherwise include one ormore decisions 1131, 1132 of various types 1133, sensors 1134, displayelements 1136, or channels 1150 operable for triggering or transmittingone or more notifications 1141, 1142 such as content 1144, optionallyvia one or more radio-frequency or other antennas 1149. Such antennasmay be used in an implanted or other portable article, for example, asdescribed throughout this document.

In some variants, such notification logic may be configured to providetimely information or advice to one or more individuals in a healthcarerecipient's vicinity. Other such embodiments are described, for example,with reference to FIGS. 1-10. Alternatively or additionally, one or moresuch network components may include media configured for display: flatscreen displays, image-projecting devices, touch screens, or other suchdisplay media.

An embodiment provides a local module 1110 or other positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient, one or moreantennas 1149 or other receivers supported by the positioning structureand configured to receive a wireless or other signal 1170, and one ormore display elements 1136 or other output devices supported by thepositioning structure and configured to present one or more options,decisions 1131, 1132, or other health-related information responsive tosignal 1170 and to one or more status updates (from a sensor 1134 orother input device 660, e.g.) relating to the healthcare recipient. Thiscan occur, for example, in a context in which local module 1110 and/ornetwork 1190 includes one or more components or instances of article610. Alternatively or additionally, in some variants, such circuitry canimplement or otherwise interact with one or more local modules (of FIGS.11-17, e.g.) within, on, or near the healthcare recipient.

With reference now to FIG. 12, shown is a system 1200 in which one ormore technologies may be implemented. One or more wearable straps orother such local modules 1270 may, for example, comprise one or moremodules 1241, 1242, 1243 of detection logic 1240; modules 1251, 1252 ofresponsive logic 1250 or other circuitry for generating or usingdetection results 1255 or other indications 1256 as described below; orinterfaces 1260 for interacting with a healthcare recipient or othersuch user.

An embodiment provides a seatbelt comprising one or modules 1242 ofdetection logic 1240 configured as circuitry for causing one or moreevaluations of incoming signals indicating a status of an occupant'sseat, back, feet, or other force-bearing body parts that may suffer poorcirculation or other such localized health problems for long periods.Such embodiments may be used, for example, in a context in which anoccupant is cognitively or otherwise unable to respond to such problems.In some variants, such a worn article may include or otherwise supportelastic or other tensile elements configured to urge sensors toward asitting healthcare recipient. In some embodiments, “health status”indicative data can reflect a physiological trend or othertime-dependent phenomenon indicating some aspect of a healthcarerecipient's condition. Alternatively or additionally, a health statusindicative data set can include portions that have no bearing upon agiven healthcare recipient's health. Although some types ofdistillations can require authority or substantial expertise (e.g.making a final decision upon a risky procedure or other course oftreatment), many other types of distillations can readily be implementedwithout undue experimentation in light of teachings herein.

An embodiment provides a positioning structure or other local module1270 configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient, one or morereceivers or other modules 1252 of responsive logic 1250 supported bythe positioning structure and configured to receive an indication 1256of a medical procedure, regimen, or other option or intention of acaregiver (as a wireless or other signal, e.g.), and one or moreinterfaces 1260 or other such user interaction devices supported by thepositioning structure and configured to present at least some suchindications relating to health in a vicinity of the healthcarerecipient. Other such embodiments are described above, for example, withreference to FIGS. 1-5.

In some variants, such detection logic may be implemented in hosiery,wristbands, bandages, or other such worn articles. Other suchembodiments are described, for example, with reference to FIGS. 1-5. Insome variants, such embodiments may incorporate one or more existingtechnologies like those of the “BT2” wristwatch design, described atwww.exmocare.com and in the Information Disclosure Statement filedherewith.

With reference now to FIG. 13, shown is a system 1300 in which one ormore technologies may be implemented, such as for observing one or moreattributes of body parts 1371, 1372 of healthcare recipient 1370 via oneor more respective adhesive patches 1331, 1332 on the healthcarerecipient's skin 1306. Adhesive patch 1332, for example, holds an array1325 of sensor elements 1321, 1322 in close contact with skin 1306 sothat attributes of subcutaneous tissues 1305, vessels 1309, or blood1303 or other such materials may be observed. In some contexts, forexample, such an array 1325 may implement combinations of two or moretypes of sensors and/or related logic as exemplified in relation toFIGS. 14-17 below. In some variants, for example, one or more suchelements 1321, 1322 may also include a configurable colorant, alight-emitting diode, or other such external feature detectable by aclinician 1310 and/or by a stationary module 1350 or other apparatusthat contains a camera 1356 or other optical sensor.

An embodiment provides one or more elements 1322 configured as circuitryfor deciding whether to transmit one or more blood clot indications(detected with reference, for example, to one or more components sensedwithin blood 1303 by element 1321) and an adhesive patch 1332 comprisingone or more tensile elements configured to hold such elements 1321, 1322of array 1325 in tight contact with skin 1306. (Other such embodimentsare described, for example, with reference to FIG. 10.) Such embodimentsmay be used, for example, in a context in which each contact element1321, 1322 comprises a gel-filled capsule or otherwise includes aliquid-containing medium configured to facilitate acoustic energypassing to or from healthcare recipient 1370.

In some variants, system components described herein may be configuredto include adhesive, fluid, electrically conductive, and/or otherspecial-purpose substances facilitating effective skin contact.Alternatively or additionally, system components described herein may beconfigured to facilitate positioning one or more sensors in contact withor in close proximity to a healthcare recipient's skin. Alternatively oradditionally, in some variants, a stationary module 1350 may include oneor more cameras 656, 1356 or other components configured to obtain animage of the output device (as a wireless or other signal, e.g.).

With reference now to FIG. 14, shown is a local module 1420 in which oneor more sensor technologies may be implemented, such as for monitoring adevice or region, or other such tasks as described herein. In someembodiments as described herein, such modules may include one or moremicrowave frequency sensors 1421, optionally configured to generate anindication of moisture or related symptoms in or on a healthcarerecipient's body. Alternatively or additionally, local module 1420 mayinclude one or more fluorescence sensors 1422, optionally configured togenerate an indication of one or more artificial markers in or onspecific tissue. (In many contexts, for example, such markers may beused for monitoring targeted physiological constituents and/orpathogens.) Such modules may likewise include one or more impedancesensors 1423, optionally configured to generate healthcare recipientrespiration rate indications, to detect fractures or other changes inelectrode contact surfaces or other such artificial structures, or todetect other such circumstances relating to a healthcare recipient ofinterest. Alternatively or additionally, local module 1420 may includeone or more conductivity sensors 1424, optionally configured to monitorsweat, apparent urinary incontinence, or other such externalcircumstances and/or (internally) to monitor blood flow, electrolytelevels, or other such internal conditions. Such modules may likewiseinclude one or more electric field sensors 1425 in some variants asdescribed herein, optionally comprising (a) an implanted sensorconfigured to monitor nerve traffic, (b) an implanted or contact sensorconfigured to transmit electrocardiogram signals, brain activityindications, or other such status information about a healthcarerecipient. Alternatively or additionally, local module 1420 may includeone or more carbon dioxide sensors 1431 or other respiration sensors1432, optionally comprising a sensor implanted adjacent a target siteand configured to monitor one or more indications of concentration, forexample, to detect apparent occlusions of a blood vessel near the site.Such modules may likewise include one or more instances of eventdetection logic 1433, pathogen detection logic 1434, or other conditiondetection logic 1435 such as for comparing raw output from sensors asdescribed herein with prior or other sensor output, with thresholdvalues to determine an apparent occurrence of an event, or with othercondition attributes as described herein for triggering notification ortherapy. In some embodiments, several or all of such items may beincluded in a single instance of local module 1420.

With reference now to FIG. 15, shown is a local module 1550 in which oneor more sensor technologies may be implemented, such as for monitoring adevice or region, or other such tasks as described herein. In someembodiments as described herein, such modules may include one or moreaccelerometers 1561, supported in a fixed relation to a target area,optionally configured to generate an indication of the activity, motion,and/or orientation of the healthcare recipient and/or region.Alternatively or additionally, local module 1550 may include one or moreradioactivity sensors 1562, optionally configured internally orexternally to generate an indication of one or more artificial markersin or on specific tissue. (In many contexts, for example, such markersmay be indicative of levels of administered therapeutic components,rates of adsorption or elimination of components, exposure levels toexternal radioactive materials, or other pathological or otherbiological processes.) Such modules may likewise include one or moreradio frequency sensors 1563, optionally configured to facilitatecommunication to, from, or between implanted or external devices, and/orto detect lung- or other such organ-status-indicative information incircumstances in which coupling via a continuous conduit may beundesirable. In some variants, local module 1550 may contain one or moremetabolic sensors 1564, optionally configured as an implanted device oran external component configured to monitor the healthcare recipient orregion (ex situ or otherwise) and to generate an indication of uptake,breakdown, elimination, and/or other such metabolic processes relating,for example, to therapeutic materials as described herein. In somecontexts, for example, such a metabolic sensor may be configured toindicate a generation and/or elimination of other components resultingfrom the breakdown of therapeutic components, the use or generation ofphysiological constituents resulting from glucose transforming intocarbon dioxide or other such metabolic processes. Such modules maylikewise contain one or more physiological constituent sensors 1565,optionally comprising an implanted or other sensor configured togenerate an indication of physiological constituent levels observed in ahealthcare recipient or subject region. This may include items such aschemical components (e.g. calcium, sodium, cholesterol, pH), proteinsand protein complexes (e.g. hemoglobin, insulin, binding proteins,antibodies) and/or structures (e.g. red and/or white blood cells,bacteria, viruses, platelets).

Alternatively or additionally, local module 1550 may likewise (optional)include one or more flow sensors 1571, which may be configured togenerate an indication of fluid flow in or across a region of interest.(In many contexts, for example, such phenomena as blood flow through avein or artery, urine flow through a urethra, bile flow through a bileduct, or other fluid flow from one region to another may be monitored.)Alternatively or additionally, local module 1550 may include one or moremotion sensors 1572, optionally configured internally, externally,and/or remotely to give an indication of the motion and/or activity of adevice or a portion of a healthcare recipient. Such modules may likewiseinclude one or more emission sensors 1573, optionally configured tointernally or externally give an indication of patient or region statussuch as using emitted infrared wavelength and intensity levels as anindication of patient or region temperature. Other emission processesmay be used to monitor artificial markers in or on tissue, for example,for monitoring specific tissue features, processes, constituents, and/orpathogens. Alternatively or additionally, local module 1550 may includeone or more gas pressure sensors 1574 configured to monitor ambientpressure levels, applied pressure levels (in hyperbaric chambers,continuous positive airway pressure machines, respirators, or other suchartificial devices) and/or pressure levels observed in a gas-filledsupport structure. (In some variants, pressure may likewise be indicatedby a variety of indirect measures such as blood vessel thickness, pulseenergy, position, noise, or other physical phenomena correlatedtherewith.) Local module 1550 may likewise include one or more positionsensors 1581 configured to monitor patient and/or region orientation.Alternatively or additionally, local module 1550 may include one or morefluid pressure sensors 1582, optionally configured to transmit orotherwise respond to physiological fluid pressure (aneurysm sac pressureor cranial pressure, e.g.) or external fluid pressure (as an indicationof delivery amount and/or proper function in a therapeutic deliverysystem, for example, or in a fluid-filled support structure as describedherein). Such modules may likewise contain one or more fluid volumesensors 1583, optionally configured to give an indication of fluidvolumes within a patient or region such as blood volume in a heartchamber, artery, or lung (as a measure of disease progression or risk,e.g.). Alternatively or additionally, local module 1550 may include oneor more force sensors 1584, optionally configured (a) to generate apressure reading or other indication of force applied to a region (as ameasure of tissue rigidity, e.g.) or (b) to indicate glaucoma,compartmental syndromes, abnormal structures, or other such potentialpathologies. Such sensors may also be used as an indication of the forceapplied by a patient and/or region on a support structure to monitorpatient activity levels and/or to give an indication of susceptibilityto force/pressure related injuries such as pressure ulcers. Such modulesmay likewise contain one or more microphones or other sonic sensors1595, optionally configured to enable communication to, from, and/orbetween implanted devices, for the recognition of sonic patterns such asheart rate, respiration rates, voice commands and other verbal input(via one or more sonic pattern sensors 1591, e.g.) or of a healthcarerecipient's potential exposure to external stimuli (via one or moresonic volume sensors 1592, e.g.). In some embodiments, several or all ofsuch items may be included in a single instance of local module 1550.

With reference now to FIG. 16, shown is a local module 1610 in which oneor more sensor technologies may be implemented, such as for monitoring adevice or region. In some embodiments, such modules may (optionally)include one or more temperature sensors 1612, optionally configured togive an indication of ambient thermal conditions around a patient and/orsystemic or local thermal conditions of the patient. (In someembodiments, “systemic” information may refer generally to currentmeasurements, body temperature or other such status information, orother data reflecting one or more attributes of a patient as a whole.“Local” information, by contrast, may describe measurements, images, orother such data conventionally pertaining to an identifiable portion ofa patient's body.)

Such modules may be implemented using one or more thermocouple sensors1631, for example, in implanted and/or direct contact devices. Thermalprobes may likewise be implemented as optical sensors that areimplanted, direct contact, and/or remotely operable. Alternatively oradditionally, local module 1610 may include one or more blood pressuresensors 1613, optionally configured to give an indication of peripheraland/or systemic blood pressure of a healthcare recipient. Such modulesmay be configured to incorporate one or more fluid pressure sensors 1582or conductivity sensors 1424 in some implanted contexts. Alternativelyor additionally, one or more force sensors 1584 and/or ultrasoundsensors 1641 (of ultrasound scanner 1640, e.g.) may be configured in atransdermal mode, for example, to generate information indicative ofblood pressure. Local module 1610 may likewise include one or morenear-infrared sensors 1622 and/or infrared sensors 1623 sensors,optionally configured to determine local oxygenation levels or othersuch chemical and/or material properties of body tissues or fluids asdescribed herein. Such sensors can likewise be configured astransmittance sensors 1621, for example, receiving radiation that haspassed through a patient fingertip or earlobe, or in other suchshort-path contexts such that the opacity of a tissue region allows forsufficient incident radiation to pass through it to form a usable image.Alternatively or additionally, local module 1610 may comprise one ormore reflectance sensors 1611 configured to emit energy into tissue andto capture a portion of the energy reflected.

In some variants, local module 1610 may contain one or more activitysensors 1632, weight sensors 1633 and/or tissue pressure sensors 1636,optionally configured to give an indication of patient activity, motion,or other information indicative of systemic or local physical status.Such modules may likewise include one or more magnetic field sensors1647, optionally configured to allow for the control and/or inhibitionof implanted devices transdermally. Alternatively or additionally, localmodule 1610 may include mass-indicative or other electrochemical sensors1648, any of which may (optionally) be configured to give an indicationof physiological constituent levels such as by incorporatingion-selective electrodes 1651 (of ion sensor 1650, e.g.) or otherconcentration-indicative sensors 1660 for the monitoring of potassium,sodium, calcium, and/or other physiologically relevant components (at pHsensor 1661 or other concentration-indicative sensors 1660, e.g.). Insome variants, electrochemical sensors 1648 can be used in a faradaicmode to monitor levels of other relevant physiological components suchas blood glucose levels, neurotransmitter release, blood oxygen levels,or other useful components either in an implanted setting and/or acontact setting (in which the sensor is inserted through the skin to thedetection site, for example, or the target molecules can be isolatedfrom the healthcare recipient and detected externally. Such modules canalso use one or more electrochemical sensors 1648 and/or optical sensors1625 (including fluorescence sensors 1422, emission sensors 1573,near-infrared sensors 1622, or infrared sensors 1623) individually or incombination to provide information for the monitoring of a drugsubstance administered to the healthcare recipient (such as drug sensor1662, e.g.). Local module 1610 may also implement one or more timestamps1644, location coordinates 1645, or other such indices 1646 relating tomeasurements or other aspects of healthcare recipient statusinformation. In some embodiments, several or all of such items may beincluded in a single instance of local module 1610.

With reference now to FIG. 17, shown is a local module 1790 in which oneor more technologies may be implemented, optionally within a sensor,sensor-containing module, or other local instrumentation. Any of localmodules 1420, 1550, 1610 may (optionally) include one or more instancesof differential or other comparators 1770 configured to process one ormore instances of real-time data 1781, historical data 1782,force-indicative data 1783, pathology-indicative data 1784, measurementdata 1785 using one or more standards 1771, thresholds 1772, or otherinput 1773. Those skilled in the art will recognize, for example, how toapply one or more thresholds 1772 configured to implement conditionalretention, conditional transmission, or other such selective treatmentto pressure-indicative, shear-indicative, strain-indicative,stress-indicative, deformation-indicative, acceleration-indicative, orother such force-indicative data 1783 in light of teachings herein.

An embodiment provides an adhesive patch 1332 or other positioningstructure 760 configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient 1370,2010; one or more receiver and/or display elements 1321 supported by thepositioning structure and configured to receive a signal 682; and one ormore receiver and/or display elements 1322 supported by the positioningstructure and configured to present or otherwise transmit an alert orother health-related information 740 responsive to signal 682 and to oneor more status updates relating to the healthcare recipient. This canoccur, for example, in a context in which such status updates 735include physiological parameters 635, images, or other such indicationsfrom sensors on or inside the recipient. Alternatively or additionally,article 610 may include or communicate with one or more implants oradhesive patches 1331, 1332 implementing one or more local modules 1420,1550, 1610, 1790 operable to detect physiological phenomena of interest.In some variants, for example, condition detection logic 1435 may beconfigured to detect real-time data 1781 indicating that a healthcarerecipient 950 is apparently not exhibiting high enough and/or steadyenough concentrations of a nutrient or medication, or other suchphenomena. Other such embodiments are described above, for example, withreference to FIGS. 1-9.

With reference now to FIG. 18, shown is an example of a system 1800 thatmay serve as a context for introducing one or more processes and/ordevices described herein, optionally configured to interact with network1895. As shown system includes one or more modules 1872, 1873, 1874,1877, 1878 of decision logic 1875, 1876; one or more transmitters 1880;and/or one or more parameters 1884, 1885 of stimula 1881 selected tofacilitate one or more sensors 1882 obtaining sensed values 1886, 1887or other such test data 1889 about an individual or subpopulation to bemonitored. System 1800 may also include or otherwise interact with oneor more instances of structures 1825 configured to obtain data fromhealthcare recipients 1820, user interfaces 1852 configured to interactwith decision makers or expert resources, or handheld devices 1861 orother such interfaces 1862 for relaying input 1865 to or from other suchparties.

Headgear or other structures 1825 wearable by healthcare recipient 1820may include, for example, one or more instances of identifiers 1823,status updates, or other data 1821, 1822 about healthcare recipient 1820obtained via one or more interfaces 1826 and/or sensors 1827. Userinterface 1852 may likewise present visual or other output 1853 and/orreceive keyed or other input 1854. Response logic 1870 as an entity mayreceive and/or transmit a variety of interactive data 1855 or othersignals 1835 for or from network 1895, in some contexts, as exemplifiedbelow. In various examples below, for example, one or more suchpatients, caregivers, or others are potential message or othernotification recipients. Some such entities have a priori informationassociating a recipient identifier or other indicator with currentsignals 1835 or other data as described below.

Some variants include one or more modules 1872 of decision logic 1875comprising circuitry for transmitting a common graphical imagecontaining information indicating a current local stress in a peripheralpart of the healthcare recipient's body with information indicating aprior local stress in the peripheral part of the healthcare recipient'sbody. This can occur, for example, in a context in which module 1872invokes transmitter 1880 to cause one or more composite images or othersuch successive indications relating to a subject's limb or back tooutput 1853. This can occur, for example, in a context in which a localsystem or mediation module 1910 uploads such images or other measurementdata to an implementation of response logic 1870 in network 1990, forexample, responsive to a request that remote users may generate afternotifications as described herein. Alternatively or additionally, one ormore such users may respond by modifying one or more standards 1771 orconfigurations of buffers, in some variants, so that subsequent sensedata may result in other patterns of data capture and/or notification asdescribed herein.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for the transmission of graphical images of subject body partsfor display and storage as described herein without undueexperimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,310,564 (“Arrangement andmethod for producing therapeutic insoles”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,289,883(“Apparatus and method for patient rounding with a remote controlledrobot”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,286,877 (“Device programmer with enclosedimaging capability”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,158,861 (“Tele-robotic system usedto provide remote consultation services”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,467(“Mobile digital radiography x-ray apparatus and system”); U.S. Pat. No.6,625,252 (“Emergency vehicle with medical image scanner andteleradiology system”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,918 (“Teleradiology systemsfor rendering and visualizing remotely-located volume data sets”); U.S.Pat. No. 6,612,982 (“Fully-swallowable endoscopic system”); U.S. Pat.No. 6,529,757 (“Picture archiving and communication system and methodfor multi-level image data processing”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,490(“Remote operation support system and method”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,527(“System and method for prompt-radiology image screening service viasatellite”).

Some variants include one or more modules 1873 of decision logic 1875comprising circuitry for relating local circulatory information to oneor more of a thigh location, a calf location, or a foot location of aleg of the healthcare recipient. This can occur, for example, in acontext in which module 1873 of decision logic 1875 receives signal 1835or other data causing an activation of one or more sensors identifiedwith or otherwise identifying such a body portion within recipient 1820.This can occur, for example, in a context in which one or more sensors1827 are positioned on or near the subject portion). In some contexts,for example, one or more such portions may be selected as a primarysensor location for (local) body part monitoring. Alternatively oradditionally, one or more other sensors as described with reference toFIG. 14-17 may be positioned to monitor such subject portions and/orother contemporaneous attributes of the healthcare recipient asdescribed herein.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for the selective inclusion and/or activation of one or moresensors from a sensor set as a primary sensor location without undueexperimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,332,743 (“Thin filmtransistor array panel and liquid crystal display”); U.S. Pat. No.7,208,983 (“Image-sensor signal processing circuit”); U.S. Pat. No.7,190,987 (“Neonatal bootie wrap”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,155,281(“Complimentary activity sensor network for disease monitoring andtherapy modulation in an implantable device”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,149,645(“Method and apparatus for accurate on-die temperature measurement”);U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,733 (“Dual sensor rate response pacemaker”); U.S.Pat. No. 6,271,766 (“Distributed selectable latent fiber opticsensors”).

Some variants include one or more modules 1877 of decision logic 1876comprising circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcyas a current (thermal, inflammatory, auditory, and/or otherphysiological) condition in a peripheral part of the healthcarerecipient. This can occur, for example, in a context in which module1877 indicates normalcy in response to receiving a high-enough and/orlow-enough numerical value 1887 directly or indirectly from one or moresensors 1827 operable for detecting a temperature at an extremity ofrecipient 1820. This can occur, for example, in a context in whichrecipient 1820 wears or otherwise interacts with structure 1825, inwhich decision logic 1876 is capable of detecting and indicating whethervalue 1887 is too far from a normal and/or uniform condition, and inwhich the output device(s) comprise transmitter 1880. In some variants,for example, module 1877 may employ this information as a factor indeciding whether to transmit a notification to user interface 1852 or toother destinations. Alternatively or additionally, in variousimplementations as described herein, structure 1825 may include one ormore instances of response logic or other circuitry operable forresponding conditionally to an identifier 1823 of a subject or otherdeterminants in detected data 1822.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for detecting statistical, anatomical, or other potentiallyuseful aberrations in light of other circumstances as described hereinwithout undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,293(“Methods and apparatus for a remote noninvasive technique to detectcore body temperature in a subject via thermal imaging”); U.S. Pat. No.7,226,426 (“Apparatus and method for the detection and quantification ofjoint and tissue inflammation”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,963,772(“User-retainable temperature and impedance monitoring methods anddevices”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,412 (“System and method for helping todetermine the condition of tissue”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,614 (“Apparatusand method for analysis of ear, pathologies by detecting fluid in theear measuring body temperature and/or determining a characteristic of afluid”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,637 (“Method and apparatus for thermalradiation imaging”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,842 (“Functional thermalimaging apparatus”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,472 (“Endodiagnostic methodusing differential thermal relaxation and IR imaging”).

An embodiment provides headset or other positioning structure 1825configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient 1820, one or moreinterfaces 1826 or other receivers supported by the positioningstructure 1825 and configured to receive a wireless or other signal1835, and at least one speaker or other output device supported by thepositioning structure 1825 and configured to present or otherwisetransmit at least a pharmaceutical or other health-related identifier1823, a response to a recipient query, or other such health-related orother data 1822 needed by recipient 1820, provided in the signal 1835,and/or responsive to data 1821 from one or more sensors 1827 inproximity to the recipient 1820. Other such embodiments are describedabove, for example, with reference to FIGS. 1-9.

With reference now to FIG. 19, shown is a system 1900 comprising amediation module 1910, such as may be configured to facilitate dataaggregation or other such data-transformative interaction between one ormore networks 1990 and a primary or other local system as describedherein. Mediation module 1910 may include one or more recorders 1911;ports 1921, modules 1922, 1923 or other invocation logic 1920; ormodules 1932, 1933 or other processing logic 1930, such as for applyinga threshold 1931. Such components may, for example, trigger a recordingor analysis in response to one or more instances of limb painindications 1944, cooling indication 1945, swelling indications 1946,dispensation indications 1947, discoloration indications 1948, symptomindications 1949, decibel measurements 1951, 1952, timing data 1961,1962, 1963, or a low-enough Reynolds number computation or otherlaminar-flow-indicative value 1971, 1972. In some variants, moreover,these or other data types may be used as confirmatory measurements 1953or other data configured for a contingent confirmation of a follow-upevaluation, a diagnosis, a referral, a prognosis, or some otherhypothesis of potential therapeutic relevance. In some variants, forexample, invocation logic 1920 may trigger one or more decisions 1991,1992 or other responses from decision logic 1995, a remote evaluationmodule 1996, or other such entities. Alternatively or additionally, someor all such data 1940 may be transmitted to network 1990, for example,to permit such recording or other functions to be performed remotely.

Some variants include one or more modules 1932 of processing logic 1930comprising (software-implemented or other) circuitry for obtaining aturbulence-indicative auditory value as a flow-change-indicativemeasurement. This can occur, for example, in a context in which module1932 accepts one or more (past or present) decibel measurements 1951,1952 high enough to indicate turbulence in a blood vessel. This canoccur, for example, in a context in which module 1933 associates anearlier laminar-flow-indicative value 1971 or a laterlaminar-flow-indicative value 1972 (a Reynolds number or other suchmeasurement below a turbulence-indicative threshold 1931, e.g.) withtiming data 1961 signifying an appearance or disappearance of detectableturbulence in the blood vessel. In some variants, for example, suchtransition-indicative timing data may signify a growing thrombosis, athrombosis breakage, a therapeutic success, or other suchflow-change-indicative phenomena. Alternatively or additionally,invocation logic 1920 may trigger one or more remote evaluation modules1996 to evaluate whether such timing data sufficiently coincides withtiming data 1962 of a dispensation, timing data 1963 of apressure-indicative or other confirmatory measurement 1953, or othersuch therapeutically relevant and detectable events.

Some variants include one or more modules 1922 of invocation logic 1920comprising circuitry for signaling at least a clot-reducing agent inresponse to an apparent circulatory degradation. This can occur, forexample, in a context in which module 1922 receives and relays thedecision 1991 to administer one or more therapeutic components to anurse or other party cable of administering such agents via port 1921.This can occur, for example, in a context in which mediation module 1910interacts with a local module as described herein via port 1921 and inwhich such flow degradation manifests as one or more of a complaint orother severe limb pain indication 1944, a swelling indication 1946, alocal discoloration indication 1948, other such detectable phenomenalocal to a portion of healthcare recipient's body, or as a confirmatorymeasurement 1953 (in combination with such indications, e.g.). In somevariants, moreover, another module 1923 may signal a caregiver to checkone or more potential effects of the clot-reducing or other therapeuticagents or to provide other appropriate follow-up. Alternatively oradditionally, module 1922 may invoke recorder 1911 to capture adistillation of one or more dispensation indications 1947, symptomindications 1949, and/or related timing data 1963 selectively for futureevaluation.

In some variants, the one or more positioning modules may be configuredto receive health-related or other information via a stationary or othermediation module 1910, for example, in a healthcare facility 405. Suchinformation may include limb pain indications 1944, swelling indications1946, confirmatory measurements 1953, timing data 1961, circulatorydata, decisions 1991, or other such data 1940. In some contexts, forexample, one or more stationary modules 810, physicians 821 or otherparties 822, decision logic 1995, or other such resources 850 (in aremote or other network 1990, e.g.) may provide or respond to suchsymptom indications 1949 or other health indicia. Other such embodimentsare described above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 1-9.

With reference now to FIG. 20, shown is a system 2000 comprising aprimary module 2090 configured to accept indications 2011, 2012, 2013,2014 from one or more auditory or other sensors 2017 in, on or about ahealthcare recipient 2010. In some variants, inputs 2038, 2039 or otherinformation 2045 as described herein may include one or more categories2031, responses 2032, verifications 2033, distributions 2034, or othersuch data 2041 suitable for inclusion, for example, as content 2071 of anotification 2075. Alternatively or additionally, one or more modules2051, 2052 or other configuration logic 2055 may maintain one or moreimages 2061, apply one or more thresholds 2062, or otherwise provide oneor more indications 2080 or notification destinations 2085 in responseto then-current contents of memory 2065.

In some embodiments, data can be “acceptable” to a data analysis moduleif some or all of the data can be processed by the module with success.An indication of acceptable data can be appropriate in response todetecting an apparent presence or absence of a pattern in the data, forexample, or to determining that the data has a file size or headerformat that is typical for data processed by the analysis module.

Some variants include one or more modules 2052 of configuration logic2055 comprising (software-implemented or other) circuitry for includingat least some medical history data in the health-related information.This can occur, for example, in a context in which module 2052 includesa category 2031, response 2032, verification 2033, distribution 2034, orother caregiver input 2038 within or otherwise with notification content2071. This can occur, for example, in a context in which varioushealthcare recipients 2010, caregivers, or other parties provide suchinput as described herein and in which these or other inputs 2038, 2039may affect what the notification includes and/or whether or where thenotification is transmitted. In some variants, for example, module 2052may respond to an indication 2080 of a resource availability change,such as by rerouting, rescheduling, or otherwise reconfiguring apotential or partial notification's content or delivery parameters.Alternatively or additionally, an indication of a lack of timely input(from a first caregiver, e.g.) may be included in a notification toanother caregiver, in some variants.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for configuring a notification to include or otherwise indicateuser preferences, status, or other such input as described hereinwithout undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,325,054(“System for notifying destination user when status of consumableproducts of printing devices meets user selected notificationcondition”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,955 (“Notification system and methodfor a mobile data communication device”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,294(“Automatic system for monitoring person requiring care and his/hercaretaker”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,907,375 (“Method and apparatus for dynamicchecking and reporting system health”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,111 (“Systemfor measuring subjective well being”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,071 (“Chronicdisease monitor”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,313 (“Interactive health caresystem and method”).

Some variants include one or more modules 2051 of configuration logic2055 comprising circuitry for performing a comparison using an updatednormalcy threshold. This can occur, for example, in a context in whichmodule 2051 changes or otherwise updates one or more optical or othernormalcy thresholds 2062. This can occur, for example, in a context inwhich such comparative information is derived from sensor data describedherein, and in which one or more users or devices have indicated anavailability to receive such notifications with one or more suchparametric updates. In some variants, for example, information from oneor more sensors 2017 on or near a healthcare recipient 2010 may be usedto generate and/or adjust thresholds applied to sensor data 2041 fromone or more other sensors extending into, in contact with, or otherwisearranged around the healthcare recipient. Alternatively or additionally,historic and/or processed information from a remote storage and/orprocessing device may be used to provide and/or adjust thresholds orother filtering information applied to the sensor data 2041 or othertypes of information 2045 obtained about the subject limb.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for requesting, receiving, or otherwise interacting withnumerical thresholds as described herein without undue experimentation.See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,250,855 (“False alarm mitigation using asensor network”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,035 (“Method and apparatus forcontrolling an alarm while monitoring”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,037,273 (“Corebody temperature monitoring in heart failure patients”); U.S. Pat. No.6,942,626 (“Apparatus and method for identifying sleep disorderedbreathing”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,095 (“Adaptive selection of a warninglimit in patient monitoring”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,552,531 (“Method andcircuit for processing signals for a motion sensor”); U.S. Pat. No.6,263,243 (“Rate adaptive pacemaker”).

With reference now to FIG. 21, shown is a system 2100 comprising one ormore modules 2120, 2125 in communication with a hub 2130 having accessto one or more networks 2190. In some variants, for example, a module2120 worn by a healthcare recipient may include one or more receivers2121 and/or user interaction devices 2122, one or more sensors 2123,2124 operable for transmitting one or more images 2131, 2132 (depictingzone 2139, e.g.), counts 2141, outputs 2137 from sensors, indicators2143, thresholds 2145 or other factors 2142 to be applied, or other suchdeterminants 2150. Alternatively or additionally, hub 2130 may receive(via one or more interfaces 2160, e.g.) one or more categories 2144 orother such input 2134 from a user or other local entity. In response tosuch determinants, one or more modules 2171, 2172, 2173, 2174 ofnotification logic 2175 may configure one or more notifications 2168 forlocal delivery (via interface 2160, e.g.) and/or delivery to one or moreinterfaces 2180 or logging modules 2185 of network 2190. In somecontexts, module 2172 may configure notification 2168 to include a rawsample of slurred speech 2164 provided by a healthcare recipient inresponse to programmatic queries, for example, or other such content2165 of an established diagnostic regimen. Such content may be omitted,in some contexts, in response to a determination that such content isnormal (not slurred, e.g.) as described herein.

An embodiment provides a sensing unit 952, interface unit 953, 954,module 2120, or other such positioning structure, one or more receivers2121, supported by the positioning structure and configured to receive awireless or other signal (from hub 2130, e.g.), and one or more userinteraction devices 2122 supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to present at least some health-related content 2165 or othernotifications 2168 in a vicinity 955 of the healthcare recipient 950responsive to signal. Other such embodiments are described above, forexample, with reference to FIGS. 1-9.

With reference now to FIG. 22, shown is a system 2200 comprising one ormore local modules 2231, 2232 each in a vicinity of one or more bodyparts 2221, 2222 of healthcare recipient 2220. In some contexts, suchlocal modules 2232 may include one or more sensors, support elements,dispensers, or other such elements 2233 positioned in contact with orotherwise adjacent a body part 2222 of interest. In variousapplications, detection logic 1240, 2240 may include one or moreinstances of configuration modules 2242, control modules 2251,invocation modules 2267, notification modules 2268, or variousrecognition modules 2281, 2282, 2283 configured to process auditoryinformation 2241 or other input data as described herein. Such detectionlogic may (optionally) include one or more evaluation modules 2252configured to implement one or more computed results 2261, comparisonresults 2262, user selections, or other such evaluation results 2263.Such results may arise from a recognition of one or more patterns 2271,2272, 2273, 2274, 2275 or profiles 2270 (combinations of patterns, e.g.)evident in data 2291, 2292, 2293, 2294, 2295, 2296 residing in memory2298. In some variants, for example, recognition module 2281 may beconfigured to recognize one or more extended measurement trends or othersuch pathological patterns 2271 even in data 2293 still in a normalrange, in some contexts. Alternatively or additionally, one or morerecognition modules 2282 may be configured to detect a shape, color, orother optical pattern 2275 characteristic of a scar, birthmark, or othercommon and/or unchanging irregularity manifested in data 2296 and notindicative of a circulatory pathology.

In some variants, such notification logic may be configured tofacilitate selective notifications according to one or more controllableparameters. Other such embodiments are described, for example, withreference to FIGS. 20-23. Alternatively or additionally, one or morerecognition modules 2281 may be configured to recognize one or moreextended measurement trends or other such pathological patterns 2271even in data 2293 still in a normal range, in some contexts.Alternatively or additionally, one or more recognition modules 2282 maybe configured to detect a shape, color, or other optical pattern 2275characteristic of a scar, birthmark, or other common and/or unchangingirregularity manifested in data 2296 and not indicative of a recognizedpathology. Other such embodiments are described above, for example, withreference to FIGS. 1-9.

Some variants include one or more modules 1242 of detection logic 1240comprise circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transmit acomponent of the health-related information partly in response toauditory information from a vicinity of the healthcare recipient. Thiscan occur, for example, in a context in which module 1242 presents orotherwise transmits a notification partly in response to recognitionmodule 2281 indicating one or more comparison results 2262 and partly inresponse to recognition module 2283 indicating a recognition of one ormore phrases or other patterns 2273, 2274 in speech or other auditoryinformation 2241 from healthcare recipient 2220. This can occur, forexample, in a context in which such auditory information 2241 indicatesthat healthcare recipient 2220 may currently be impaired and in which atleast one such result 2262 of comparing abnormal-temperature-indicativedata 2291 with historical or other filtering data indicates that a hotzone of peripheral body part 2222 has become measurably hotter and thatperipheral body part 2221 has apparently remained in a normal condition.In some contexts, for example, such normality may be inferred fromabnormal-temperature-indicative data 2291 not referring to part 2221and/or not coming from one or more local modules 2231 in a vicinity ofpart 2221. Alternatively or additionally, the decision may depend uponone or more other determinants such as (a) whether a currentnotification 1142 differs from a prior notification 1141; (b) whetherinterface 1180 indicates that one or more recipients are apparentlyonline; (c) whether any new comparison result reflects a new,unrecognized, and/or other urgent situation; or other criteria asdescribed herein.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for recognizing words or other auditory patterns as describedherein without undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,257,531(“Speech to text system using controlled vocabulary indices”); U.S. Pat.No. 6,990,455 (“Command and control using speech recognition for dentalcomputer connected devices”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,579 (“Anaesthesiacontrol system”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,654 (“System and method forproviding prescription services using voice recognition”); U.S. Pat. No.6,785,358 (“Voice activated diagnostic imaging control user interface”);U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,937 (“System for processing audio, video and otherdata for medical diagnosis and other applications”); U.S. Pat. No.5,335,313 (“Voice-actuated, speaker-dependent control system forhospital bed”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,669 (“Semiconductor rectifier havinghigh breakdown voltage and high speed operation”).

With reference now to FIG. 23, shown is a system 2300 comprising one ormore modules 2301, 2302 of extraction logic 2310 configured to processone or more samplings 2314, distillations 2315, measurements 2316, 2317,2318, identifiers 2319, or other such output 2311, 2312 from sensors orother detection logic described herein. In some embodiments, such a“distillation” can comprise an average, estimate, range, or othercomputation at least partly distilling a set of data. It can likewiseinclude an indexing, sorting, summarization, distributed sampling, orother process having a purpose or effect of showing some aspect of thedata more concisely or effectively than a conventional display of theentire data. Selecting a last portion of a data set can constitute adistillation, for example, in a context in which the data's utilityapparently increases. Those skilled in the art will recognize manyuseful modes of distilling data in light of the state of the art and ofteachings herein.

Such information 2320, 2330 may further include one or more instances ofprogrammatic advice 2332, ratios 2334, computations 2336, or other suchcomponents of notifications 2338. In some variants, for example, atleast one distribution module 2350 may be configured to use suchinformation to select one or more destinations 2341, 2342 among aplurality of destinations 2341, 2342, 2343 in response to these or othercriteria 2364 (defined in one or more subscriber profiles 2361, e.g.) orto a client list 2367. Alternatively or additionally, notification logic2175 or other responsive logic described herein may use one or more suchdeterminants 2368 to select among one or more databases 2381 or othersecondary information sources 2380 to draw upon for contextualinformation to be included in such notifications.

In some variants, logic for applying one or more thresholds or othersuch criteria may be configured to preserve relevant data selectively,to generate a summary or evaluation, or otherwise to perform suitabledata extractions. In some embodiments, such data extraction criteria caninclude maxima or other comparison values applied to durations, counts,lengths, widths, frequencies, signal magnitudes or phases, digitalvalues or the like. Such criteria can be applied by determining when orhow often a definable pattern can be found: a text string, a quantity, acough-like sound, an arrhythmia, a visible dilation, a failure torespond, a non-change, an allergic response, a symptom relating to anapparent condition of the user, or the like.

In some contexts, a programmer or record manager may configure one ormore modules 2301 of extraction logic 2310 or other response logic 335to transmit one or more such notifications 315 to healthcare recipients,care providers, and/or other interested parties 822. Such configurationsmay include encoding one or more client lists 2367 and/or criteria 2364of each subscriber profile 2361, for example, or other such determinants2368.

In some variants, one or more such output devices may selectivelypresent the health-related information 2320 with one or morecomputations 2336 of estimated cost, with updates relating to therecipient's vocations or hobbies, and/or with one or more notifications2338 apparently unrelated to health. In some contexts, for example, suchnotifications may be archived and potentially correlated withphysiological abnormalities that follow. Other such embodiments aredescribed above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 1-9.

With reference now to FIG. 24, shown is a monitoring unit 2400 in whichone or more technologies may be implemented, comprising one or moreinstances of detection logic 2450 and/or storage devices 2490 configuredfor handling one or more signals 2480. In some contexts, such signalsare manifested as light energy 2471 and/or sound energy 2472 passing toor from a subject region via one or more wave guides 2475. In somecontexts, one or more sensors 2455 or other modules 2451 of detectionlogic 2450 may permit a rate 2457, decrease 2458, or other such element2459 to be detected in response, for example, to real-time data 1781.Alternatively or additionally, detection logic 2450 may include orotherwise interact with one or more emitters 2461, 2462, 2463 asdescribed below.

Some variants include one or more modules 2451 of detection logic 2450comprising circuitry for detecting a (thermal or other) normalizationrate decrease. This can occur, for example, in a context in which module2451 detects that region 2521 does not return to a normal parametricrange as quickly as it normally should, in response to localaberrations. This can occur, for example, in a context in which module2501 remains in place long enough to permit module 2451 to establish anormalcy range relating to such (unsigned) rates of normalization forregion 2521, and in which such a rate apparently decreases several timesover an interval of a minute, an hour, a day, or more. In some contextsin which a limb has been affected by an environmental or other thermaldisturbance, for example, module 2451 may effectively characterize oneor more rates at which the temperature distribution of the regionreturns toward an equilibrium status. Alternatively or additionally,detection logic 2450 may include or otherwise operate in conjunctionwith a (heating and/or cooling) modulation element 2459 (in module 2501,e.g.) so that an apparent decrease 2458 in a computed normalization rate2457 may be distinguished from an environmental trend or otherwiseconfirmed as an apparent symptom of worsening circulation.

An embodiment provides a monitoring unit 2400 configured as apositioning structure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient, asensor 2455 or other module 2451 of detection logic 2450 supported bythe positioning structure; one or more emitters 2461, 2462 or otheroutput devices supported by the positioning structure and configured totransmit one or more signals from the detection logic 2450 (as lightenergy 2471 or sound energy 2472, e.g.); and one or more other emitters2462, 2463 comprising output devices supported by the positioningstructure and configured to transmit at least some health-related rates2457 or other such information to a vicinity of the healthcarerecipient.

An embodiment provides a physiological support 2510 or other positioningstructure configured to be worn on at least a limb 2530 of a healthcarerecipient, one or more modules 2503 configured as receivers supported bythe positioning structure and configured to receive wireless or othersignals 2570, and at least one emitter 2515 (configured as a speaker orother wireless-signal output device, e.g.) supported by the positioningstructure and configured to transmit measurements or otherhealth-related information responsive to signal 2570 and to sensor datafrom one or more sensor-containing modules 2501, 2502 in proximity tothe healthcare recipient. In some contexts, for example, such sensordata 2635, 764 can originate from the same or other articles worn by thehealthcare recipient.

With reference now to FIG. 25, shown is a system 2500 in which one ormore technologies may be implemented. System 2500 comprises an elasticor other physiological support 2510 wrapped around a subject's limb 2530and holding several modules 2501, 2502, 2503 in contact with thesubject's skin 2531, optionally via a liquid-containingcontact-enhancement medium. Some of these modules 2501, 2502, 2503 may(a) position a sensor at least in a vicinity of the healthcare recipientfor a period of more than an hour and/or (b) implement a receiver forreceiving signal 2570 as described herein. In some contexts, forexample, bandages or other such physiological supports 2610 as describedbelow may implement system 2500. In some implementations, for example,such articles may safely remain in place for a day or longer.

In some variants, any of modules 2501, 2502, 2503 may implement one ormore sensors of local modules 1420, 1550, 1610 configured to provide oneor more indications of sensor data captured at different times. Suchdata may indicate, for example, whether one or more regions 2521, 2522of limb 2530 exhibits one or more clotting symptoms across a period ofseveral hours, a week, or longer. In some contexts, such data may beobtained (a) without further involvement of a caregiver and/or (b) fromabout the same position(s) as a prior sensing event. Alternatively oradditionally, such modules may include one or more emitters 2515operable for facilitating a detection of a bone 2533 or othersubcutaneous portion 2532 of limb 2530. Other such embodiments aredescribed above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 1-9.

With reference now to FIG. 26, shown is a structure 2610 operable inconjunction with system 2600, in which one or more technologies may beimplemented. Structure 2610 may include one or more items oftransportation or other equipment 2615, beds 2616, and/or handheld orother portable items 2625. Such items may include hosiery, adhesivepatches, or other such articles 2626; bandages or other supports 2627;or other such structures as described herein comprising one or moreelements 2620 configured to provide information to and/or about suchhealthcare recipients.

In some variants, for example, system 2600 may comprise decision logic2655 and/or interfaces 2670 operable for receiving or otherwise handlingsensor data 2635 such as measurements 2631, timing data 2634, or otherdata 2632, 2633 as described herein. System 2600 may receive suchinformation 2621, 2622, 2623 or otherwise interact with such structures2610 via one or more intermittent or other data paths 2617, 2618, 2619.As described herein, decision logic 2655 may use some or all of suchtemperatures 2651 or other data 2652 as described herein, such as forcausing module 2662 or other logic to configure or route notification2661 or other data 2665 to one or more outputs 2681, 2682.

An embodiment provides a medical or veterinary system including agarment, portable item 2625, or other physiological support 2510configured for bearing and/or surrounding some or all of a healthcarerecipient. In some variants, for example, the system may include a cast,elastic wrapping, support hose, a sling, or other such structures(wearable by a human or other healthcare recipient, in some cases) forwhich supporting a subject's body part is not merely an incidentaleffect. Such systems may likewise include a monitoring unit 2400 orother device configured for communication, battery recharging, datasynchronization, or other such support functions, for example, in ahealthcare facility or home.

In some embodiments, the support(s) may contain or otherwise includecircuitry for sensing a local temperature or other intensive property oftissue at an extremity or other body part directly. Alternatively oradditionally, such sensing circuitry may derive such a value, such as bycomputing a ratio of estimates of two extensive properties of thehealthcare recipient's limb. In some contexts, moreover, asignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of such sensing may be increased bysubtracting or otherwise mitigating an effect from skin or otherexternal body portions, an effect from bones or other hard structures,an effect from an artificial or (prior) normal condition of thehealthcare recipient, or other effects unrelated to the vasculatureand/or to any meaningful intensive property trend.

In some variants, for example, a suitable threshold for a firstpotential trend may be on the order of 2-20 minutes or hours. Suchtrends may include indications of rapid local clotting, of a hemodynamicinstability, or of other such imminent threats, for example.Alternatively or additionally, a suitable threshold for plaqueaccumulation or other such (more gradual) trends may be on the order of1-3 days or months.

With reference now to FIG. 27, shown is a flow 2700 comprising operation2730—obtaining information indicating a current thermal condition in aperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient (e.g. decision logic2655 receiving one or more temperatures 2651 or other such information2621, 2622, 2623 via one or more portable items 2625 or other equipment2615 within a proximity of the healthcare recipient). This can occur,for example, in a context in which system 2600 implements or otherwiseinteracts with such structures 2610, such as by one or more conduits orother signal paths 2617, 2618, 2619. In some variants, for example,decision logic 2655 may reside within one or more worn articles 2626, abed 2616, or other equipment 2615 configured to support some or all of ahealthcare recipient. Alternatively or additionally, one or more suchstructures 2610 may comprise or receive data from one or more implantedor other sensors and/or related circuitry as described above withreference to FIGS. 14-17. Such physical components may likewiseincorporate or interact one or more instances of interface 2670 operablefor interacting with (some) such patients or other parties, such as byperforming operation 2790.

Operation 2790 describes signaling a decision whether to transmit anotification at least partly in response to one or more comparisonsbetween the information indicating the current thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient and informationindicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral body part of thehealthcare recipient (e.g. interface 2670 directing one or morenotifications 2661 to one or more outputs 2681 corresponding torecipients who have requested or may otherwise benefit from such timelyinformation). This can occur, for example, in a context in whichdecision logic 2655 has addressed the notifications or otherwiseselected the output(s) 2681 according to one or more expert-definedthresholds or other criteria as described herein. In some variants, forexample, a recipient or other managing entity associated with output2682 may choose a more extreme temperature or other threshold as acutoff in response to receiving an excessive number of notificationsthat are not actionable. Alternatively or additionally, such an entitymay likewise choose a mode of transmission, an inclusion of data 2665,or some other aspect of configuring notification 2661 in response to arecipient's indication of availability as described herein.

With reference now to FIG. 28, there are shown several variants of theflow 2700 of FIG. 27. Operation 2730—obtaining information indicating acurrent thermal condition in a peripheral body part of a healthcarerecipient—may (optionally) include one or more of the followingoperations: 2835 or 2837. In some embodiments, variants of operation2730 may be performed by one or more instances of detection logic 1240,2240 or other such data reception or distillation logic as describedherein. Operation 2790—signaling a decision whether to transmit anotification at least partly in response to one or more comparisonsbetween the information indicating the current thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient and informationindicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral body part of thehealthcare recipient—may include one or more of the followingoperations: 2891, 2893, 2896 or 2899. In some embodiments, variants ofoperation 2790 may be performed by one or more instances of detectionlogic 120, 710, 1240; or other such processing and/or communicationcomponents. Alternatively or additionally, flow 2700 may be performed ina context as described above.

Operation 2835 describes determining that the information apparentlymanifests the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient (e.g. evaluation module 2252 identifyingabnormal-temperature-indicative data 2291 received from one or morecomponents of local module 2232 and normal-temperature-indicative data2292 received from local module 2231). This can occur, for example, in acontext in which configuration module 2242 and evaluation module 2252jointly perform operation 2730; in which other components of detectionlogic 2240 perform operation 2790; in which evaluation module 2252implicitly treats such data 2291-2296 as “current” and “spatiallyseparated” for diagnostic purposes; in which at least two such localmodules 2231, 2232 each instantiate local module 1610 of FIG. 16 (localto healthcare recipient 2220, e.g.); and in which local module 2232detects two or more physical phenomena as described herein fromperipheral body part 2222. In some variants, for example, one or moreelements 2233 of such local modules 2231, 2232 may comprise respectiveinstances of temperature sensors 1612 or other sensors as shown in FIG.16. Alternatively or additionally, some or all such data 2291-2296 may(optionally) include (a) color-indicative or other measurement data2294; (b) timestamps 1644, coordinates 1645, anatomical descriptions,shape data, or other such temporal or spatial indices 1646; and/or (c)pathology profile data 2295; or other such diagnostically usefulinformation.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for determining a data object type, format, or other indicationwhether data may be evaluated as described herein without undueexperimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,296,238 (“Method andapparatus for triggering automated processing of data”); U.S. Pat. No.7,269,718 (“Method and apparatus for verifying data types to be used forinstructions and casting data types if needed”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,263,688(“Method and apparatus for dynamic data-type management”); U.S. Pat. No.7,020,666 (“System and method for unknown type serialization”); U.S.Pat. No. 7,016,601 (“Method and apparatus for storing different types ofdata on the same storing medium”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,738,769 (“Sortingmultiple-typed data”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,506 (“Applying operations toselected data of different types”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,997 (“Method forexecuting instructions that operate on different data types stored inthe same single logical register file”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,247(“Apparatus and process for interactive psychotherapy”).

Operation 2837 describes extracting a portion of detected information asthe information indicating the current thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient (e.g. module 2302 ofextraction logic 2310 selectively including one or more measurements2317 or ratios 2334 or other measurement-based computations 2336extracted from output 2312 of sensors or other detection circuitry asdescribed herein). This can occur, for example, in a context in which asampling 2314, a distillation 2315, one or more measurements 2316, 2317of particular interest, or some other subset of such output 2312 islogged or otherwise retained for comparison and/or included in one ormore notifications as described herein. In some variants, for example,such a notification may include a blood pressure measurement 2318, arange or other type identifier 2319, and/or other such extractedinformation 2320. Alternatively or additionally, such a notification mayinclude advice 2332, a recipient-appropriate translation, or other suchcategorical information 2330 extracted from a database 2381 or othersuch secondary information source 2380 using the extracted information2320, for example, as a search term.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for selectively retaining probative data portions or otherwisesampling or sifting detected information as described herein withoutundue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,305 (“Method andsystem for recording carious lesions”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,325,297(“Automatic assembly machine for mounting bearings onto motors”); U.S.Pat. No. 7,280,992 (“Method for processing medically relevant data”);U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,425. (“Method for detecting artifacts in data”);U.S. Pat. No. 7,076,436 (“Medical records, documentation, tracking andorder entry system”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,578 (“Method, system, andcomputer product for collecting and distributing clinical data for datamining”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,846 (“Method and system for medicalpatient data analysis”).

Operation 2891 describes deciding whether to transmit the notificationresponsive to whether any of the one or more comparisons indicate anabnormal temperature change in the peripheral body part of thehealthcare recipient (e.g. module 1243 of detection logic 1240 soundingan alarm only if comparison result 1255 indicates that any body part ofa healthcare recipient 550, 950 is excessively hot or cold). This canoccur, for example, in a context in which detection logic 1240 iswirelessly or otherwise coupled to respective portions of gown 562; inwhich module 1241 and/or responsive logic 1250 perform operation 2730;in which detection logic 1240 performs operation 2790; in whichmonitoring apparatus 1260 resides in a vicinity 555 of healthcarerecipient 550 and in which a nearby person may be pre-trained and/orcontemporaneously guided to provide adequate and timely aid. Such aidmay include talking with or positioning a healthcare recipient; helpinga healthcare recipient to administer medications; obtaining adefibrillator, ECG monitor, or other such therapeutic or diagnosticinstruments; or contacting a physician or ambulance for more extremesituations. In some variants, for example, one or more modules 1251 ofresponsive logic 1250 may enable such detection logic periodically orotherwise in response to detected events. Alternatively or additionally,an item of clothing or other wearable article may include one or moreinstances of local module 1610 of FIG. 16 operable for transmittingcomparison results, measurement data, or decisions as described herein.

Operation 2893 describes signaling the decision by transmitting thenotification to a portable interface (e.g. channel 1150 transmitting oneor more notifications 1141, 1142 as described herein via one or moreantennas 1149 to one or more wearable or other portable interfaces 1180,2160, 2180 or other destinations). This can occur, for example, in acontext in which such a transmission results from one or morehybrid-data decisions 1131 or other thermally-dependent decisions 1132and in which one or more controllers as described herein include one ormore implementations of local module 1110. In some variants, forexample, some or all of the content 1144 of such a notification maydepend upon a type 1133 of one or more such interfaces or otherdestinations 1135. Alternatively or additionally, such a decision may besignaled to a display element 1136 or other configurable feature localto local module 1110.

Operation 2896 describes ranking a higher-priority destination and alower-priority destination for the notification (e.g. module 2171ranking one or more nearby interfaces 2160 with a higher-prioritycategory 2144 than that of one or more interfaces 2180 of network 2190).This can occur, for example, in a context in which a notification 2168is first routed to a healthcare recipient or other higher-prioritydestination and in which a related notification is routed to anotherparty a few minutes or hours later in the event that module 2172 doesnot receive input 2134 from the higher-priority destination. In somevariants, for example, such input may include an acknowledgment thatsomeone has received the notification. Alternatively or additionally,any such decisions, notifications, or determinants may be logged toother destinations, such as logging module 2185.

Operation 2899 describes signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient (e.g. local module 1110 updating a party partly inresponse to recognition module 2281 indicating one or more comparisonresults 2262 and partly in response to recognition module 2283indicating a recognition of one or more phrases or other patterns 2273,2274 in speech or other auditory information 2241 from healthcarerecipient 2220). This can occur, for example, in a context in which suchauditory information 2241 indicates that healthcare recipient 2220 maycurrently be impaired and in which at least one such result 2262 ofcomparing abnormal-temperature-indicative data 2291 with historical orother filtering data indicates that a hot zone of peripheral body part2222 has become measurably hotter and that peripheral body part 2221 hasapparently remained in a normal condition. In some contexts, forexample, such normality may be inferred fromabnormal-temperature-indicative data 2291 not referring to part 2221and/or not coming from one or more local modules 2231 in a vicinity ofpart 2221. Alternatively or additionally, the decision may depend uponone or more other determinants such as (a) whether a currentnotification 1142 differs from a prior notification 1141; (b) whetherinterface 1180 indicates that one or more recipients are apparentlyonline; (c) whether any new comparison result reflects a new,unrecognized, and/or other urgent situation; or other criteria asdescribed herein.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for recognizing words or other auditory patterns as describedherein without undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,257,531(“Speech to text system using controlled vocabulary indices”); U.S. Pat.No. 6,990,455 (“Command and control using speech recognition for dentalcomputer connected devices”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,579 (“Anaesthesiacontrol system”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,654 (“System and method forproviding prescription services using voice recognition”); U.S. Pat. No.6,785,358 (“Voice activated diagnostic imaging control user interface”);U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,937 (“System for processing audio, video and otherdata for medical diagnosis and other applications”); U.S. Pat. No.5,335,313 (“Voice-actuated, speaker-dependent control system forhospital bed”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,669 (“Semiconductor rectifier havinghigh breakdown voltage and high speed operation”).

With reference now to FIG. 29, there are shown several variants of theflow 2700 of FIG. 27 or 28. Operation 2730—obtaining informationindicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral body part of ahealthcare recipient—may (optionally) include one or more of thefollowing operations: 2931 or 2939. In some embodiments, variants ofoperation 2730 may be performed by one or more instances of localmodules 1420, 1550, 1610, 1790, 2231, 2232 or other modules 2120configured to handle sensor data; decision logic 1875, 1995; or othercomponents configured to handle such status information. Operation2790—signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification at leastpartly in response to one or more comparisons between the informationindicating the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient and information indicating a prior thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient—mayinclude one or more of the following operations: 2992, 2995, 2997 or2998. In some embodiments, variants of operation 2790 may be performedby one or more instances of distribution logic; notification logic 2175;or other such control or communication components. Alternatively oradditionally, flow 2700 may be performed in a context as describedabove.

Operation 2931 describes obtaining an optical image of the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient of the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient (e.g. module 2120 receiving image 2131 from infrared sensor1623 or image 2132 from another optical sensor 1625 from a positionadjacent a patient's body part). This can occur, for example, in acontext in which a patient or caregiver positions a charge-coupleddevice or similar image capture mechanism in a vicinity of the body partto monitor a growth or other optically detectable phenomenon, optionallyin a manner that captures one or more isotherm-indicative shapes. Insome variants, for example, a sensor array comprising infrared-sensitiveelements may be used for implementing such data capture. Alternativelyor additionally, other radiant-energy-sensitive and/or other elements asdescribed herein may be used for sensing diagnostically usefulinformation contemporaneously relating to the same part of thehealthcare recipient.

Operation 2939 describes detecting that the information indicatesnormalcy as the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient (e.g. one or more modules 1877 of decisionlogic 1876 indicating normalcy in response to receiving a high-enoughand/or low-enough numerical value 1887 directly or indirectly from oneor more sensors 1827 operable for detecting a temperature at anextremity of healthcare recipient 1820). This can occur, for example, ina context in which healthcare recipient 1820 rests upon or otherwiseinteracts with structure 1825, in which decision logic 1876 is capableof detecting and indicating whether value 1887 is too far from a normaltemperature, and in which transmitter 1880 is operable for performingoperation 2790. In some variants, for example, module 1877 may employthis information as a factor in deciding whether to transmit anotification to user interface 1852 or to other destinations.Alternatively or additionally, in various implementations as describedherein, structure 1825 may include one or more instances of responselogic or other circuitry operable for responding conditionally to anidentifier 1823 of a healthcare recipient or other determinants indetected data 1822.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for detecting statistical, anatomical, or other potentiallyuseful thermal aberrations in light of other circumstances as describedherein without undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,293(“Methods and apparatus for a remote noninvasive technique to detectcore body temperature in a subject via thermal imaging”); U.S. Pat. No.7,226,426 (“Apparatus and method for the detection and quantification ofjoint and tissue inflammation”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,963,772(“User-retainable temperature and impedance monitoring methods anddevices”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,412 (“System and method for helping todetermine the condition of tissue”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,614 (“Apparatusand method for analysis of ear, pathologies by detecting fluid in theear measuring body temperature and/or determining a characteristic of afluid”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,637 (“Method and apparatus for thermalradiation imaging”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,842 (“Functional thermalimaging apparatus”); U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,472 (“Endodiagnostic methodusing differential thermal relaxation and IR imaging”).

Operation 2992 describes including auditory data with the notification(e.g. one or more modules 2171-2174 of notification logic 2175configuring notification 2168 to include speech 2164 or other audibledata with other content 2165 of notification 2168 delivered to one ormore interfaces 2160, 2180). This can occur, for example, in a contextin which notification logic 2175 performs at least operation 2790 and inwhich one or more users or devices have indicated a telephone, computerspeaker, or other interface facility for handling such data. In somevariants, for example, output 2137 from a microphone or other sensor2124 may first be detected as speech, a heartbeat or other audiblemetabolic indicator, or other device-detectable phenomena in ahealthcare recipient's vicinity. Alternatively or additionally, content2165 provided with a notification 2168 may include one or more instancesof translated or other programmatic notifications, for example, suitablefor remote delivery at a speaker-containing interface 2180.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for amplifying, recording, translating, selecting, or otherwisefacilitating an inclusion of potentially useful auditory data asdescribed herein without undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.7,313,529 (“Portable extender for data transmission within a medicaldevice communication system”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,291,111 (“Apparatus andmethod for non-invasive diagnosing of coronary artery disease”); U.S.Pat. No. 6,944,497 (“System and method of treating stuttering byneuromodulation”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,117 (“Handheld sensor foracoustic data acquisition”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,937 (“System forprocessing audio, video and other data for medical diagnosis and otherapplications”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,379 (“Apparatus and method ofmeasuring the flow of a liquid, in particular urine, from a patient”);U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,614 (“Apparatus and method for analysis of earpathologies by detecting fluid in the ear, measuring body temperatureand/or determining a characteristic of a fluid”); U.S. Pat. No.6,014,626 (“Patient monitoring system including speech recognitioncapability”).

Operation 2995 describes selecting one or more destinations for thenotification (e.g. distribution module 2350 selecting one or moredestinations 2341, 2342 using client list 2367 or other determinants asdescribed herein). This can occur, for example, in a context in which awearable article implements system 2300 (of FIG. 23) and in which one ormore preferences of a client system, member, or other interested partyare registered for notification via subscriber profile 2361 or othersuch indication. In some variants, for example, a nurse may associateone or more healthcare recipient identifiers with a wearable articleand/or a notification of changes in symptomatic parameters signaled byindication 1256 and may receive a notification 2338 via a wearable orother local module 1270, in some variants, in response to a detection ofone or more symptoms of interest as described herein. Alternatively oradditionally, a clinician 1310 or other interested party may receivesuch a notification 2338 selectively, for example via stationary module1350. In a variety of contexts as described herein, such implementationscan facilitate a faster therapeutic response.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for the selection of one or more recipients for medical or othernotifications as described herein without undue experimentation. See,e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,333,014 (“Notifying users of device events in anetworked environment”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,310,615 (“Financial datareporting system with alert notification feature and free-form searchingcapability”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,308,246 (“Emergency notification systemand emergency notification device”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,781 (“Systemand method for emergency notification content delivery”); U.S. Pat. No.7,180,415 (“Safety/security alert system”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,525(“System and method for defining, refining, and personalizingcommunications policies in a notification platform”); U.S. Pat. No.6,834,306 (“Method and apparatus for notifying a user of changes tocertain parts of web pages”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,241 (“Automatedparallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notificationsystem”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,873 (“Weather warning apparatus andmethod”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,346 (“Medical timer/monitor and method ofmonitoring patient status”).

Operation 2997 describes including thermal-decrease-size-indicativeinformation with the notification (e.g. module 2662 including a numberof degrees or other data 2665 received as information 2622, 2623 fromone or more portable items 2625 indicating how much a healthcarerecipient's appendage has apparently cooled). This can occur in acontext in which such cooling results from a wound dressing or otherarticle significantly impairing a healthcare recipient's circulation,for example, or in which such cooling signifies a return to normalcyfrom an overly-hot condition. In some contexts, for example, anotification recipient may respond with timely advice for treating thehealthcare recipient's leg in response to such quantified notification.Alternatively or additionally, in some contexts, such information maywarrant a change in how the healthcare recipient is monitored, such asby decreasing vigilance and/or by monitoring systemic, environmental, orother information 2621 relating to a healthcare recipient as describedherein.

Operation 2998 describes including spatial-size-indicative informationwith the notification (e.g. module 2174 of notification logic 2175including one or more of a scaling factor 2142 or other areal indicator2143, photographs or other images 2131, 2132, a volumetric orshape-descriptive category 2144, and/or other such information includedin or appended to content 2165 of notification 2168). This can occur,for example, in a context in which interface 2160 performs operation2730, in which module 2173 decides whether to transmit the notification,in which notification logic 2175 performs operation 2790, and in which ahealthcare recipient cannot communicate such information and/orotherwise address a pathology. In some variants, for example, module2173 signals in the affirmative if a hot zone 2139 of an image 2132 islarger than threshold 2145. Alternatively or additionally, the decisionmay likewise depend upon one or more of an iteration count 2141 or otherindicator of duration, user input 2134, a concentration or other output2137 from an electrochemical sensor 1648 (of module 2120, e.g.), and/orother determinants 2150 as described herein.

In light of teachings herein, numerous existing techniques may beapplied for shape recognition or other analyses of spatial attributes asdescribed herein without undue experimentation. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.7,346,205 (“System and method for rapidly identifying pathogens,bacteria and abnormal cells”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,077 (“Gesturerecognition system using depth perceptive sensors”); U.S. Pat. No.7,331,667 (“Iris pattern recognition and alignment”); U.S. Pat. No.7,327,861 (“Organism authenticating apparatus”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,317,821(“Automatic abnormal tissue detection in MRI images”); U.S. Pat. No.7,242,807 (“Imaging of biometric information based on three-dimensionalshapes”); U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,580 (“Fingerprint scar recognition methodand apparatus”); U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,117 (“Patient monitoring systememploying array of force sensors on a bedsheet or similar substrate”);U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,040 (“Optical object tracking system”); U.S. Pat.No. 6,529,759 (“Method for mapping internal body tissue”).

Some variants include one or more modules 118, 331 for recognizing oneor more queries 621, gestures 622, images 623, symbols 624, call signals625, authorizations 626, notifications 627 or other such patterns ofuser input 620 in data 650 from one or more sensors in a healthcarerecipient's vicinity 555, 955. This can occur, for example, in a contextin which such circuitry implements or otherwise interacts with one ormore local modules 1420, 1550, 1610, 1790 within or near the healthcarerecipient.

Some or all of the embodiments described herein may generally comprisetechnologies for handling one or more bioactive agents and/or carriersin releasable module form, via a liquid-bearing conduit, in a mist orother spray form, in a pumped or other pressurized form, or otherwiseaccording to technologies described herein. In a general sense, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects describedherein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by awide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereofcan be viewed as being composed of various types of “electricalcircuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electrical circuitry”includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry having at leastone discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at leastone integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that thesubject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog ordigital fashion or some combination thereof.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter,receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.), etc.).

All of the above-mentioned U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in any Application Data Sheet, areincorporated herein by reference, to the extent not inconsistentherewith.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein describedcomponents (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the discussionaccompanying them are used as examples for the sake of conceptualclarity and that various configuration modifications are contemplated.Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars set forth and theaccompanying discussion are intended to be representative of their moregeneral classes. In general, use of any specific exemplar is intended tobe representative of its class, and the non-inclusion of specificcomponents (e.g., operations), devices, and objects should not be takenlimiting.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures may beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable,” to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents, and/or wirelessly interactable, and/or wirelesslyinteracting components, and/or logically interacting, and/or logicallyinteractable components.

In some instances, one or more components may be referred to herein as“configured to,” “configurable to,” “operable/operative to,”“adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize that “configured to” can generallyencompass active-state components and/or inactive-state componentsand/or standby-state components, unless context requires otherwise.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to claims containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, ingeneral such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill inthe art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at leastone of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that haveA alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms unless context dictates otherwise. For example, the phrase “Aor B” will be typically understood to include the possibilities of “A”or “B” or “A and B.”

With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art willappreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed inany order. Also, although various operational flows are presented in asequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may beperformed in other orders than those which are illustrated, or may beperformed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may includeoverlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental,preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variantorderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like“responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives aregenerally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictatesotherwise.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto implement devices and/or processes and/or systems, and thereafter useengineering and/or other practices to integrate such implemented devicesand/or processes and/or systems into more comprehensive devices and/orprocesses and/or systems. That is, at least a portion of the devicesand/or processes and/or systems described herein can be integrated intoother devices and/or processes and/or systems via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize thatexamples of such other devices and/or processes and/or systems mightinclude—as appropriate to context and application—all or part of devicesand/or processes and/or systems of (a) an air conveyance (e.g., anairplane, rocket, helicopter, etc.), (b) a ground conveyance (e.g., acar, truck, locomotive, tank, armored personnel carrier, etc.), (c) abuilding (e.g., a home, warehouse, office, etc.), (d) an appliance(e.g., a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, etc.), (e) acommunications system (e.g., a networked system, a telephone system, aVoice over IP system, etc.), (f) a business entity (e.g., an InternetService Provider (ISP) entity such as Comcast Cable, Qwest, SouthwesternBell, etc.), or (g) a wired/wireless services entity (e.g., Sprint,Cingular, Nextel, etc.), etc.

In certain cases, use of a system or method may occur in a territoryeven if components are located outside the territory. For example, in adistributed computing context, use of a distributed computing system mayoccur in a territory even though parts of the system may be locatedoutside of the territory (e.g., relay, server, processor, signal-bearingmedium, transmitting computer, receiving computer, etc. located outsidethe territory).

A sale of a system or method may likewise occur in a territory even ifcomponents of the system or method are located and/or used outside theterritory. Further, implementation of at least part of a system forperforming a method in one territory does not preclude use of the systemin another territory.

Various aspects of the subject matter described herein are set out inthe following numbered clauses:

1. A system comprising:

a positioning structure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient;

a movement detector supported by the positioning structure;

a first output device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to transmit at least a signal from the movement detector; and

a second output device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to transmit at least some health-related information in avicinity of the healthcare recipient.

2. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

a receiver supported by the positioning structure; and

a stationary module operable for transmitting another signal to thereceiver.

3. The system of clause 2 in which the stationary module comprises:

a camera configured to obtain an image of the second output device.

4. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for causing a notification to be routed to at least one of thefirst output device or the second output device.

5. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for invoking at least one of the first output device, thesecond output device, or a third output device selected in response to aconfiguration parameter.

6. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some medical history data in thehealth-related information.

7. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some real-time data in thehealth-related information.

8. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling at least a clot-reducing agent in response to anapparent circulatory degradation.

9. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting data indicating one or more concentrations ofa nutrient or medication.

10. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting thermal data.

11. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting one or more swelling indications.

12. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

one or more sensors adjacent a body part of the healthcare recipient.

13. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

a sensor supported by the positioning structure and configured togenerate sensor data; and

circuitry for recognizing a pattern in the sensor data.

14. The system of clause 13, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcy in thesensor data.

15. The system of clause 13, further comprising:

circuitry for indicating one or more conditional notificationsresponsive to the sensor data.

16. The system of clause 13, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a turbulence-indicative auditory value as aflow-change-indicative measurement.

17. The system of clause 13, further comprising:

circuitry for performing a comparison using an updated normalcythreshold.

18. The system of clause 13, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure mechanically supporting at least a portion ofthe circuitry for recognizing the pattern in the sensor data.

19. The system of clause 1, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

clothing.

20. The system of clause 1, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of a cuff, a sleeve, or a wristband.

21. The system of clause 1, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of eyewear, an earpiece, or a headpiece.

22. The system of clause 1, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure configured to surround a portion of thehealthcare recipient.

23. The system of clause 1, in which the movement detector comprises:

at least one of an accelerometer or a proximity sensor.

24. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

a user interface operable to receive input from the healthcarerecipient.

25. The system of clause 24, in which the user interface comprises:

a sonic sensor.

26. The system of clause 24, in which the user interface comprises:

a touchscreen.

27. The system of clause 24, in which the user interface comprises:

circuitry for presenting content provided by a healthcare facility inthe healthcare facility.

28. The system of clause 1, in which the second output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting a verification.

29. The system of clause 1, in which the second output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting a resource status indication.

30. The system of clause 1, in which the second output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting other information to one or more otherrecipients.

31. The system of clause 1, in which the second output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting likelihood-indicative data.

32. The system of clause 1, in which the second output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more limb pain indications.

33. The system of clause 1, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining information indicating a current thermalcondition in a peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient.

34. The system of clause 33 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for determining that the information apparently manifests thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

35. The system of clause 33 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for extracting a portion of detected information as theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient.

36. The system of clause 33 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for obtaining an optical image of the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient of the information indicating the currentthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

37. The system of clause 33 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for detecting that the information indicates normalcy as thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

38. The system of clause 33, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification atleast partly in response to one or more comparisons between theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient and information indicating a priorthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

39. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for deciding whether to transmit the notification responsiveto whether any of the one or more comparisons indicate an abnormaltemperature change in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

40. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision by transmitting the notification toa portable interface.

41. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for ranking a higher-priority destination and a lower-prioritydestination for the notification.

42. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient.

43. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including auditory data with the notification.

44. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for selecting one or more destinations for the notification.

45. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including thermal-decrease-size-indicative informationwith the notification.

46. The system of clause 38 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including spatial-size-indicative information with thenotification.

47. A system comprising:

a positioning structure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient;

a receiver supported by the positioning structure and configured toreceive a wireless signal; and

a first output device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to transmit at least some health-related informationresponsive to the wireless signal and to a status update relating to thehealthcare recipient.

48. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

a stationary module operable for transmitting the wireless signal to thereceiver.

49. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

a second output device supported by the positioning structure; and

circuitry for causing a notification to be routed to at least one of thefirst output device or the second output device.

50. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for invoking at least one of the first output device or asecond output device selected in response to a configuration parameterand to the wireless signal.

51. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some medical history data in thehealth-related information.

52. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some real-time data in thehealth-related information.

53. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling at least a clot-reducing agent in response to anapparent circulatory degradation.

54. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting data indicating one or more concentrations ofa nutrient or medication.

55. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting thermal data.

56. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting one or more swelling indications.

57. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

an accelerometer supported by the positioning structure.

58. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

a proximity sensor supported by the positioning structure.

59. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

one or more sensors adjacent a body part of the healthcare recipient.

60. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

a sensor supported by the positioning structure; and

circuitry for recognizing a pattern in data from the sensor.

61. The system of clause 60, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcy in the datafrom the sensor.

62. The system of clause 60, further comprising:

circuitry for indicating one or more conditional notificationsresponsive to the data from the sensor.

63. The system of clause 60, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a turbulence-indicative auditory value as aflow-change-indicative measurement.

64. The system of clause 60, further comprising:

circuitry for performing a comparison using an updated normalcythreshold.

65. The system of clause 60, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure mechanically supporting at least a portion ofthe circuitry for recognizing the pattern in the data from the sensor.

66. The system of clause 47, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

clothing.

67. The system of clause 47, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of a cuff, a sleeve, or a wristband.

68. The system of clause 47, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

eyewear.

69. The system of clause 47, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of an earpiece or a headpiece.

70. The system of clause 47, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure configured to surround a portion of thehealthcare recipient.

71. The system of clause 47, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the output device configured to receive optical energy as the wirelesssignal.

72. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

a user interface operable to receive input from the healthcarerecipient.

73. The system of clause 72, in which the user interface comprises:

a sonic sensor.

74. The system of clause 72, in which the user interface comprises:

a touchscreen.

75. The system of clause 72, in which the user interface comprises:

circuitry for presenting content provided by a healthcare facility inthe healthcare facility.

76. The system of clause 47, in which the first output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more of a verification or a resourcestatus indication.

77. The system of clause 47, in which the first output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting other information to one or more otherrecipients.

78. The system of clause 47, in which the first output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting the health-related information with one ormore computations of cost.

79. The system of clause 47, in which the first output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting likelihood-indicative data.

80. The system of clause 47, in which the first output device comprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more limb pain indications.

81. The system of clause 47, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining information indicating a current thermalcondition in a peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient.

82. The system of clause 81 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for determining that the information apparently manifests thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

83. The system of clause 81 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for extracting a portion of detected information as theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient.

84. The system of clause 81 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for obtaining an optical image of the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient of the information indicating the currentthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

85. The system of clause 81 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for detecting that the information indicates normalcy as thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

86. The system of clause 81, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification atleast partly in response to one or more comparisons between theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient and information indicating a priorthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

87. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for deciding whether to transmit the notification responsiveto whether any of the one or more comparisons indicate an abnormaltemperature change in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

88. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision by transmitting the notification toa portable interface.

89. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for ranking a higher-priority destination and a lower-prioritydestination for the notification.

90. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient.

91. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including auditory data with the notification.

92. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for selecting one or more destinations for the notification.

93. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including thermal-decrease-size-indicative informationwith the notification.

94. The system of clause 86 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including spatial-size-indicative information with thenotification.

95. A system comprising:

a positioning structure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient;

a receiver supported by the positioning structure and configured toreceive a wireless signal; and

a first output device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to present at least some health-related informationresponsive to the wireless signal and to a status update relating to thehealthcare recipient.

96. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

a stationary module operable for transmitting the wireless signal to thereceiver.

97. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

a second output device supported by the positioning structure; and

circuitry for causing a notification to be routed to at least one of thefirst output device or the second output device.

98. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

circuitry for invoking at least one of the first output device or asecond output device selected in response to a configuration parameterand to the wireless signal.

99. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some medical history data in thehealth-related information.

100. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some real-time data in thehealth-related information.

101. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling at least a clot-reducing agent in response to anapparent circulatory degradation.

102. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting data indicating one or more concentrations ofa nutrient or medication.

103. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

an accelerometer supported by the positioning structure.

104. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

one or more sensors adjacent a body part of the healthcare recipient.

105. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

a sensor supported by the positioning structure; and

circuitry for recognizing a pattern in data from the sensor.

106. The system of clause 105, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcy in the datafrom the sensor.

107. The system of clause 105, further comprising:

circuitry for indicating one or more conditional notificationsresponsive to the data from the sensor.

108. The system of clause 105, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a turbulence-indicative auditory value as aflow-change-indicative measurement.

109. The system of clause 105, further comprising:

circuitry for performing a comparison using an updated normalcythreshold.

110. The system of clause 105, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure mechanically supporting at least a portion ofthe circuitry for recognizing the pattern in the data from the sensor.

111. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

clothing.

112. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

a cuff.

113. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

a sleeve.

114. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

a wristband.

115. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of eyewear, an earpiece, or a headpiece.

116. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure configured to surround a portion of thehealthcare recipient.

117. The system of clause 95, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the output device configured to receive radio frequency energy as thewireless signal.

118. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

a user interface operable to receive input from the healthcarerecipient.

119. The system of clause 118, in which the user interface comprises:

a sonic sensor.

120. The system of clause 118, in which the user interface comprises:

a keypad.

121. The system of clause 118, in which the user interface comprises:

circuitry for presenting content provided by a healthcare facility inthe healthcare facility.

122. The system of clause 95, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of a verification or a resourcestatus indication.

123. The system of clause 95, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting other information to one or more otherrecipients.

124. The system of clause 95, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting the health-related information with one or morecomputations of cost.

125. The system of clause 95, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting likelihood-indicative data.

126. The system of clause 95, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more limb pain indications.

127. The system of clause 95, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining information indicating a current thermalcondition in a peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient.

128. The system of clause 127 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for determining that the information apparently manifests thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

129. The system of clause 127 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for extracting a portion of detected information as theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient.

130. The system of clause 127 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for obtaining an optical image of the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient of the information indicating the currentthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

131. The system of clause 127 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for detecting that the information indicates normalcy as thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

132. The system of clause 127, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification atleast partly in response to one or more comparisons between theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient and information indicating a priorthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

133. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for deciding whether to transmit the notification responsiveto whether any of the one or more comparisons indicate an abnormaltemperature change in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

134. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision by transmitting the notification toa portable interface.

135. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for ranking a higher-priority destination and a lower-prioritydestination for the notification.

136. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient.

137. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including auditory data with the notification.

138. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for selecting one or more destinations for the notification.

139. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including thermal-decrease-size-indicative informationwith the notification.

140. The system of clause 132 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including spatial-size-indicative information with thenotification.

141. A system comprising:

a positioning structure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient;

a receiver supported by the positioning structure and configured toreceive a wireless signal; and

a user interaction device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to present at least some health-related information in avicinity of the healthcare recipient responsive to the wireless signal.

142. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

a stationary module operable for transmitting the wireless signal to thereceiver.

143. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for causing a notification to be routed at least to the userinteraction device.

144. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for invoking one or more output devices selected in responseto a configuration parameter and to the wireless signal.

145. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some medical history data in thehealth-related information.

146. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some real-time data in thehealth-related information.

147. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling at least a clot-reducing agent in response to anapparent circulatory degradation.

148. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting data indicating one or more concentrations ofa nutrient or medication.

149. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting thermal data.

150. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

an accelerometer supported by the positioning structure.

151. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

a proximity sensor supported by the positioning structure.

152. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

one or more sensors adjacent a body part of the healthcare recipient.

153. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

a sensor supported by the positioning structure; and

circuitry for recognizing a pattern in data from the sensor.

154. The system of clause 153, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcy in the datafrom the sensor.

155. The system of clause 153, further comprising:

circuitry for indicating one or more conditional notificationsresponsive to the data from the sensor.

156. The system of clause 153, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a turbulence-indicative auditory value as aflow-change-indicative measurement.

157. The system of clause 153, further comprising:

circuitry for performing a comparison using an updated normalcythreshold.

158. The system of clause 153, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure mechanically supporting at least a portion ofthe circuitry for recognizing the pattern in the data from the sensor.

159. The system of clause 141, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

clothing.

160. The system of clause 141, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of a cuff, a sleeve, or a wristband.

161. The system of clause 141, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of eyewear, an earpiece, or a headpiece.

162. The system of clause 141, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure configured to surround a portion of thehealthcare recipient.

163. The system of clause 141, in which the receiver comprises:

an optical sensor configured to receive optical energy as the wirelesssignal.

164. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

a keypad.

165. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

a touchscreen.

166. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting content provided by a healthcare facility inthe healthcare facility.

167. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting one or more of a verification or a resourcestatus indication.

168. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting other information to one or more otherrecipients.

169. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting the health-related information with one or morecomputations of cost.

170. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

circuitry for transmitting likelihood-indicative data.

171. The system of clause 141, in which the user interaction devicecomprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more limb pain indications.

172. The system of clause 141, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining information indicating a current thermalcondition in a peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient.

173. The system of clause 172 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for determining that the information apparently manifests thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

174. The system of clause 172 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for extracting a portion of detected information as theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient.

175. The system of clause 172 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for obtaining an optical image of the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient of the information indicating the currentthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

176. The system of clause 172 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for detecting that the information indicates normalcy as thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

177. The system of clause 172, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification atleast partly in response to one or more comparisons between theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient and information indicating a priorthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

178. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for deciding whether to transmit the notification responsiveto whether any of the one or more comparisons indicate an abnormaltemperature change in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

179. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision by transmitting the notification toa portable interface.

180. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for ranking a higher-priority destination and a lower-prioritydestination for the notification.

181. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient.

182. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including auditory data with the notification.

183. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for selecting one or more destinations for the notification.

184. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including thermal-decrease-size-indicative informationwith the notification.

185. The system of clause 177 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including spatial-size-indicative information with thenotification.

186. A system comprising:

a positioning structure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient;

a first output device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to transmit at least some health-related information in avicinity of the healthcare recipient; and

a second output device supported by the positioning structure andconfigured to transmit a wireless signal containing one or more scalarvalues indicating a position of the healthcare recipient.

187. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

a receiver supported by the positioning structure; and

a stationary module operable for transmitting another signal to thereceiver.

188. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for causing a notification to be routed to at least one of thefirst output device or the second output device.

189. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for invoking at least one of the first output device, thesecond output device, or a third output device selected in response to aconfiguration parameter.

190. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some medical history data in thehealth-related information.

191. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for including at least some real-time data in thehealth-related information.

192. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling at least a clot-reducing agent in response to anapparent circulatory degradation.

193. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting data indicating one or more concentrations ofa nutrient or medication.

194. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting thermal data.

195. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for transmitting one or more swelling indications.

196. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

one or more sensors adjacent a body part of the healthcare recipient.

197. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

a sensor supported by the positioning structure and configured togenerate sensor data; and

circuitry for recognizing a pattern in the sensor data.

198. The system of clause 197, further comprising:

circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcy in thesensor data.

199. The system of clause 197, further comprising:

circuitry for indicating one or more conditional notificationsresponsive to the sensor data.

200. The system of clause 197, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining a turbulence-indicative auditory value as aflow-change-indicative measurement.

201. The system of clause 197, further comprising:

circuitry for performing a comparison using an updated normalcythreshold.

202. The system of clause 197, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure mechanically supporting at least a portion ofthe circuitry for recognizing the pattern in the sensor data.

203. The system of clause 186, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

clothing.

204. The system of clause 186, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of a cuff, a sleeve, or a wristband.

205. The system of clause 186, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

one or more of eyewear, an earpiece, or a headpiece.

206. The system of clause 186, in which the positioning structurecomprises:

the positioning structure configured to surround a portion of thehealthcare recipient.

207. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

a user interface operable to receive input from the healthcarerecipient.

208. The system of clause 207, in which the user interface comprises:

a sonic sensor.

209. The system of clause 207, in which the user interface comprises:

a touchscreen.

210. The system of clause 207, in which the user interface comprises:

circuitry for presenting content provided by a healthcare facility inthe healthcare facility.

211. The system of clause 186, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for transmitting one or more of a verification or a resourcestatus indication.

212. The system of clause 186, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for presenting other information to one or more otherrecipients.

213. The system of clause 186, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for transmitting the health-related information with one ormore computations of cost.

214. The system of clause 186, in which the first output devicecomprises:

circuitry for transmitting likelihood-indicative data.

215. The system of clause 186, further comprising:

circuitry for obtaining information indicating a current thermalcondition in a peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient.

216. The system of clause 215 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for determining that the information apparently manifests thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

217. The system of clause 215 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for extracting a portion of detected information as theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient.

218. The system of clause 215 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for obtaining an optical image of the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient of the information indicating the currentthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

219. The system of clause 215 in which the circuitry for obtaininginformation indicating a current thermal condition in a peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for detecting that the information indicates normalcy as thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

220. The system of clause 215, further comprising:

circuitry for signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification atleast partly in response to one or more comparisons between theinformation indicating the current thermal condition in the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient and information indicating a priorthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

221. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for deciding whether to transmit the notification responsiveto whether any of the one or more comparisons indicate an abnormaltemperature change in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.

222. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision by transmitting the notification toa portable interface.

223. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for ranking a higher-priority destination and a lower-prioritydestination for the notification.

224. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient.

225. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including auditory data with the notification.

226. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for selecting one or more destinations for the notification.

227. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including thermal-decrease-size-indicative informationwith the notification.

228. The system of clause 220 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises:

circuitry for including spatial-size-indicative information with thenotification.

Although selected combinations of the respective clauses are indicatedabove, this is by way of illustration only, and all relevantcombinations of the clauses is also envisaged herein.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: first means for receiving awireless signal; second means for presenting at least somehealth-related information in a vicinity of a healthcare recipientresponsive to the wireless signal; wearable means for positioning thefirst means and the second means in relation to the healthcarerecipient; and means for including at least some medical history data inthe health-related information.
 2. A system comprising: a positioningstructure configured to be worn by a healthcare recipient; a receiversupported by the positioning structure and configured to receive awireless signal; a user interaction device supported by the positioningstructure and configured to present at least some health-relatedinformation in a vicinity of the healthcare recipient responsive to thewireless signal; and circuitry for including at least some medicalhistory data in the health-related information.
 3. The system of claim2, further comprising: a stationary module operable for transmitting thewireless signal to the receiver.
 4. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising: circuitry for causing a notification to be routed at leastto the user interaction device.
 5. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising: circuitry for invoking one or more output devices selectedin response to a configuration parameter and to the wireless signal. 6.The system of claim 2, further comprising: circuitry for including atleast some real-time data in the health-related information.
 7. Thesystem of claim 2, further comprising: circuitry for signaling at leasta clot-reducing agent in response to an apparent circulatorydegradation.
 8. The system of claim 2, further comprising: circuitry fortransmitting data indicating one or more concentrations of a nutrient ormedication.
 9. The system of claim 2, further comprising: circuitry fordetecting thermal data.
 10. The system of claim 2, further comprising:an accelerometer supported by the positioning structure.
 11. The systemof claim 2, further comprising: a proximity sensor supported by thepositioning structure.
 12. The system of claim 2, further comprising:one or more sensors adjacent a body part of the healthcare recipient.13. The system of claim 2, further comprising: a sensor supported by thepositioning structure; and circuitry for recognizing a pattern in datafrom the sensor.
 14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:circuitry for detecting one or more indications of normalcy in the datafrom the sensor.
 15. The system of claim 13, further comprising:circuitry for indicating one or more conditional notificationsresponsive to the data from the sensor.
 16. The system of claim 13,further comprising: circuitry for performing a comparison using anupdated normalcy threshold.
 17. The system of claim 2, in which thepositioning structure comprises: clothing.
 18. The system of claim 2, inwhich the positioning structure comprises: one or more of a cuff, asleeve, or a wristband.
 19. The system of claim 2, in which thepositioning structure comprises: one or more of eyewear, an earpiece, ora headpiece.
 20. The system of claim 2, in which the positioningstructure comprises: the positioning structure configured to surround aportion of the healthcare recipient.
 21. The system of claim 2, in whichthe receiver comprises: an optical sensor configured to receive opticalenergy as the wireless signal.
 22. The system of claim 2, in which theuser interaction device comprises: a keypad.
 23. The system of claim 2,in which the user interaction device comprises: a touchscreen.
 24. Thesystem of claim 2, in which the user interaction device comprises:circuitry for presenting content provided by a healthcare facility inthe healthcare facility.
 25. The system of claim 2, in which the userinteraction device comprises: circuitry for presenting one or more of averification or a resource status indication.
 26. The system of claim 2,in which the user interaction device comprises: circuitry for presentingother information to one or more other recipients.
 27. The system ofclaim 2, in which the user interaction device comprises: circuitry fortransmitting likelihood-indicative data.
 28. The system of claim 2,further comprising: circuitry for obtaining information indicating acurrent thermal condition in a peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.
 29. The system of claim 28 in which the circuitry forobtaining information indicating a current thermal condition in aperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitryfor determining that the information apparently manifests the currentthermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.
 30. The system of claim 28 in which the circuitry forobtaining information indicating a current thermal condition in aperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitryfor extracting a portion of detected information as the informationindicating the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient.
 31. The system of claim 28 in which thecircuitry for obtaining information indicating a current thermalcondition in a peripheral body part of the healthcare recipientcomprises: circuitry for obtaining an optical image of the peripheralbody part of the healthcare recipient of the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient.
 32. The system of claim 28, further comprising: circuitry forsignaling a decision whether to transmit a notification at least partlyin response to one or more comparisons between the informationindicating the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient and information indicating a prior thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient. 33.The system of claim 32 in which the circuitry for signaling a decisionwhether to transmit a notification at least partly in response to one ormore comparisons between the information indicating the current thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient andinformation indicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitry for decidingwhether to transmit the notification responsive to whether any of theone or more comparisons indicate an abnormal temperature change in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient.
 34. The system ofclaim 32 in which the circuitry for signaling a decision whether totransmit a notification at least partly in response to one or morecomparisons between the information indicating the current thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient andinformation indicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitry for ranking ahigher-priority destination and a lower-priority destination for thenotification.
 35. The system of claim 32 in which the circuitry forsignaling a decision whether to transmit a notification at least partlyin response to one or more comparisons between the informationindicating the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient and information indicating a prior thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipientcomprises: circuitry for signaling the decision whether to transmit thenotification partly in response to auditory information from thehealthcare recipient.
 36. The system of claim 32 in which the circuitryfor signaling a decision whether to transmit a notification at leastpartly in response to one or more comparisons between the informationindicating the current thermal condition in the peripheral body part ofthe healthcare recipient and information indicating a prior thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipientcomprises: circuitry for including auditory data with the notification.37. The system of claim 32 in which the circuitry for signaling adecision whether to transmit a notification at least partly in responseto one or more comparisons between the information indicating thecurrent thermal condition in the peripheral body part of the healthcarerecipient and information indicating a prior thermal condition in theperipheral body part of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitryfor selecting one or more destinations for the notification.
 38. Thesystem of claim 32 in which the circuitry for signaling a decisionwhether to transmit a notification at least partly in response to one ormore comparisons between the information indicating the current thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient andinformation indicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitry for includingthermal-decrease-size-indicative information with the notification. 39.The system of claim 32 in which the circuitry for signaling a decisionwhether to transmit a notification at least partly in response to one ormore comparisons between the information indicating the current thermalcondition in the peripheral body part of the healthcare recipient andinformation indicating a prior thermal condition in the peripheral bodypart of the healthcare recipient comprises: circuitry for includingspatial-size-indicative information with the notification.